In celebration of the year-end festive season, Dogster is casting a canine-focused eye back on the most notably lovable dogs that helped light up 2013. Each day we’ll be profiling one honorable hound. We’re tagging it “the 12 Dogs of Christmas.”
After featuring Misfit the blind wonder yesterday, we turn our attention to honoring the life of the new poster child against backyard breeding …
1. Rosie
Our top pick for the 12 Dogs of Christmas is Rosie the Chihuahua, whose story we’ve followed throughout the year and who tragically passed away in October from a bout of pneumonia. She will live on as a poster dog for the fight against backyard breeding.
Rosie’s tale picks up when she was rescued from a backyard breeder (or hoarder) situation in Woodland Hills, California. When we first brought her to your attention we described her physical appearance as including a “needle-nose snout, devastatingly misaligned jaw and teeth, severely bowed legs, and pinky-purple skin with hardly a patch of fur.” But this was balanced by a personality we said was “full of love, intelligence, and an incredible will to live.”
It turned out that Rosie was part of 27 dogs (plus three turtles and a couple of birds) that were living in the hoarder situation. An independent rescuer stepped in to assist in finding forever homes for the pups and a community formed around the Help Still Needed CA Hoarder Facebook page. (According to the site, some pups still need homes.) As Rosie’s story quickly spread through social media, her loving face began to shine around the world.
You can continue to remember Rosie over at her website, which mixes up tributes with details about her life, talks about her brothers and sisters, and gives pointers to inspire people to work vigilantly to ensure her situation doesn’t happen again. A tribute video to Rosie is also available to watch below.
Check out some cuteness with Dogster:
- 10 Dogs Headed for Santa’s Naughty List (But Who’ll Get Presents Anyway)
- How Daisy, an Underdog with an Underbite, Made a Difference
- Elwood, the World’s Ugliest Dog, Had a Beautiful Life
Enjoy the rest of the 12 Dogs of Christmas here:
