Cha Cha Lu Lu

A year and a half ago, I started a dog rescue. We go to the Midwest and rescue dogs from puppy mills. If you don't know what a puppy mill is - go to youtube and plenty will come up - but make sure you're not eating when you do. It's really difficult to rescue animals - financially, emotionally and logistically. Especially when one has no idea what one's doing (which is how I started out). I took a break from rescuing for the past year, and to be honest have been thinking about giving it up altogether. But I just received an email a few days ago with an update from one of the families who adopted from me. They send updates fairly often, but this one in particular absolutely touched, moved, and inspired me. When I rescued Garbo (now ChaCha LuLu...a much more suitable name), she was a mess. She was tiny, matted, skinny, scared, SO smelly, had fleas, and ...let's just say... stomach difficulties. We got her fixed up, she recovered to a point, but was still skiddish and afraid to look at some people. She was bouncy and playful as Havanese are, but you could tell there was sadness and uncertainty behind those adorable black eyes. This family is absolutely amazing. They took her in, and before they even came to meet her, she was part of the family. I don't consider myself too successful with this as I've only rescued 11 dogs, but when I got this update, it made me realize that if I had not started this rescue and saved this little pup, she would either be dead, or really sick with lots of litters of puppies already under her (2-year-old) belt. And now she is with this family and it has not only transformed her life, it has transformed theirs. And the reason I'm sharing this is to acknowledge and give a lot of credit to everyone who has done something kind or generous whether it be big or small.  Because even the littlest things; like rescuing one little puppy, can transform so many peoples' lives.
Ok it's 4 in the morning and I might be a little emotional right now...
Here is the picture we took of ChaCha the day we rescued her in Oklahoma. The hair around her eyes was long and matted, and she didn't pick her head up for two days. She was so terrified, it was like she was playing dead and felt like a ragdoll in your arms.  This is a picture from the day we rescued her:

And this is the update they just sent me:

pink bows and all!