Whether you are a dog lover, a cat lover, or just an animal lover in general, seeing a hurting animal makes you sad. Am I right? If you don’t think so, then go back to when you saw one of those sad animal shelter commercials.  During those commercials, most people search really fast for their remotes so they can change the channel. If you do love animals, then you will like this page. I am just going to give some examples of how people have been making a difference for the dogs who went from near death to extreme happiness.

• Andie was a small puppy, weighing only 7 pounds and was chained to a chain heavier than her. She suffered from severe mange (a painful disease, caused by parasitic mites) and her legs became deformed from malnutrition. She was left outside, and was not able to get away from the scorching sun. PETA (an organization to help treat and care for animals) had to step in when there were complaints about Andie whimpering. After PETA stepped in, she got treated for her mange and malnutrition. She soon became healthy and happy again. She is now an indoor dog and was adopted to a loving family.

• Eleanor was found in a closed garbage can in Chicago by a man taking his trash out. Someone had to have dropped her in there, because there was no way she could’ve gotten in there herself. She was underweight, dehydrated, and had recently given birth to puppies because her milk ducts were engorged and infected. She had to go through emergency surgery, and afterwards was put on IV pain meds, fluids, and antibiotics. After all that, she made a full recovery and found a forever home with a loving mom who cherishes her.

• Mistletoe was an abused puppy that came into care after she was brought into an open-access shelter while suffering from severe eye trauma and infection. Her eye would pop in and out and had some puss dripping out from her eye socket. She recovered from her surgery and went into a wonderful foster home that cared for her until she was ready to be spayed, vaccinated, microchipped, and have her face staples removed. A friend of Mistletoe’s foster family fell in love with her and took her in.

Those are just a few of the many recovery stories of puppies. There are a lot of organizations around the U.S. to help stray dogs (and cats) get the care they need and to find a forever home.