I am a lover of animals, especially those in need of a loving family. My parents used to tell me I couldn’t save every animal in the world, but I certainly will try. I grew up around animals, both dogs and cats. If I could, I would rescue every animal in every shelter. My future husband and I have rescued two dogs so far. Here is Kaila’s story (pronounced Ki-La):

I wanted to surprise my fiancé with a new dog for his birthday, even though we just rescued a dog less than one year ago. Like I said earlier, I love animals. I would do anything for them, especially those in need. It didn’t even cross my mind once to “buy” an animal from someone who breeds dogs. I immediately surfed the web for animal shelters in my area. It didn’t matter how far I had to drive to adopt, I wanted to bring another furry friend into our home. I went to the Huachuca City, Arizona Animal Shelter’s Facebook page, and there she (Kaila) was, staring at me with those big brown eyes, her ears bigger than her body. I knew she was the one.

That same day, I phoned the animal shelter requesting information about “Madison,” (which was her shelter name). I then drove to the shelter with a friend of mine, who was also looking to adopt another dog, and saw soon-to-be Kaila in a separate room (away from the other dogs), in an unpleasant/dirty cage, which was smaller than her body (she couldn’t stand up straight or turn around that’s how small the cage was). I asked if it was ok to play with her. Once she was out of the cage, she ran into my arms (barely knocking me down) and started licking my face. This is the one, I said.

After doing the necessary paperwork for adoption, I was told Kaila had been on antibiotics since being in the shelter (approximately 6 weeks). Her litter had been abandoned (Kaila along with her 2 brothers, one of which recently passed). Kaila had been extremely malnourished ,which was evident by her ribs protruding out of her body. I was told I would be able to pick her up in one week, after her spaying was conducted.

The following week, like a kid on Christmas Day, I drove to the place where Kaila was fixed. I could barely contain my excitement when I saw her. I put a pink bow around her neck and helped her into the car. When I got home, she greeted my fiancé with open arms. She even greeted our other rescue, Justice.

The following day, my fiancé and I put her in her own separate room. We didn’t want her cone to hurt Justice, or worse, have her stitches come out from her surgery. One hour later, when we both arrived back home, our world came crashing down on us. Unknown still to us how they managed to break through the door, our entire house was in disarray. Kaila was sitting in the kitchen. Her stitches had come undone, and she seemed to be in shock. We managed to pick her up and rushed her to an animal hospital. We didn’t think she was going to make it: the vet said we found her just in time.

The surgery went well, but the vet said during Kaila’s original surgery, the surgeon worked around a blood vessel which had caused additional problems. Kaila was on meds for another 10 days and was in a lot of pain for several of those days. At the time I felt like I was the worse pet owner in the world. This little puppy had been through so much in her life already, and I felt like I added to the pain/stress.

After 10 days of prescriptions (3x a day) and follow up checks with the vet, our Kaila is like a new dog. She is so playful, so loving, and so strong. It didn’t matter about the money, it didn’t matter how long we would have to administer prescription medicine to her, what matter is we rescued her. Kaila is approximately 5 months old, and weighing 50 pounds already! She has made such a huge impact in our lives, and not a day goes by we don’t think about how perfect Kaila is.

Thanks for sharing Kaila’s story with us! She was lucky to find such a caring family, and it seems like she has been the perfect addition for you.

If you would like to see your own rescue dog or cat featured here, please share your pet’s story and photo with us!