I received a letter from a volunteer at the North Mecklenberg Animal Rescue about a beautiful girl named Hope, a throwaway who survived against the odds.

She is currently being fostered at a wonderful home but needs her own permanent loving forever home.

Hope was neglected and abused until, as a 6-8 month old puppy, being thrown into a rock quarry in an attempt to drown her. Her spirit and determination allowed her to fight for an indeterminate amount of time, acquiring significant injuries to her feet and legs as she tried desperately to free herself. Somehow, she found a small ledge, where she huddled for another indeterminate amount until Fire and Rescue rock climbed and rafted her out. By this point, she was totally catatonic and responsive due to her fear.

The reason my home was chosen for foster care was because of the very special pack of rescued animals who lives here. There is a rescued fighting dog who was used as bait and subsequently lost a rear leg and underwent 3 surgeries, another dog that was abandoned twice before the age of 3 months who is now a Therapy Dog for humans and other animals, and three elderly cats who were abandoned at various stages in their life. They now work together to help other animals adjust and recover from bad situations. One of these cats keeps all arriving foster dogs company by spending the night sleeping in front of their crates, as well as by engaging in boxing matches with the dogs regardless of their size.

The other two cats perform grooming rituals on the foster animals, washing faces, ears and paws. The dogs patiently engage the newcomers, coaxing them out of their shells, educating the traumatized dogs about how to join a pack.

Within hours, this group had enticed Hope to let her guard down and engage in a bit of play with them. In a few days, she began to initiate interaction with me. In a week, she was allowing select strangers to approach her. In just a matter of a month or two, Hope transformed from catatonia into a happy, playful, engaging dog who has adopted the philosophy of Ive never met a stranger. People are shocked to hear of her past when they meet her.they see her as a typical puppy.

We all knew that the magical pack could bring Hope around. We assumed that because of her public story (she was in the newspaper, and has her own journal on our website) she would find a home quickly. But despite the fact that Hope loves people–including kids, other dogs, and cats, and despite her good manners in a home environment, she has had little to no interest from potential adopters.

Unfortunately, in this tough economy, many people have chosen to forgo the added expense of a pet. Not only are people not adopting, many are actually dropping their family pets off at the pound to cut costs.

This is not a good time to be a dog without a home. But Hope is a fighter, and a survivor, and we continue to fight for her. We have spread the word about this wonderful girl in as many ways as we could think of.

Thank you to Amy, the volunteer at the shelter who sent me the letter as well as Hope’s foster, for showing her that people are good. Let’s see if we can’t help find this beautiful girl a home in time for Christmas, what a gift that would be. If you are interested in Hope please contact the North Mecklenburg Animal Rescue for further information. You can also read Hope’s daily journal and see a video of this amazing girl, you’ll fall in love when you see her playing with the other pups.

Please tell everyone you know about Hope, send out emails, post and crosspost. If we all work together we can find her the home she deserves. After all, where there’s faith, there’s HOPE.