She arrived, sweet and emaciated, but gracious despite the Hell she’d been living in. We renamed her, Grace, not wanting her ever again to hear her former name; the name her abuser had called her.

The email had come from a county south of us in Florida : Can you place this dog? She was confiscated from a cruelty case. She is senior and arthritic with a knee injury and advanced heart worm. Her teeth are mostly gone from being tied outside in the extreme heat eating gravel. Her human was arrested, charged with a misdemeanor and fined $5000.

I tried to place the dog, and came close; one woman was willing and able but had steps up to her house and the dog couldn’t manage steps.

After about a week of lying awake at night and worrying, I suddenly decided that it would be easier to just bring her home. Two of my rescue volunteers, Fospice Guardians Nancie and Eric, transported the diminished dog to us. In the meantime, people responding to my post exclaimed that they’d seen this dog on the news. Indeed, the sheriff of her county had held a press conference to say that she should not be euthanized. The only one who should be euthanized, he said, was her former human!

Grace has been with us for almost two years now. She survived the heart worm injections and is thriving as best she can with bowed back legs and slowly-progressing Congestive Heart Failure. She and my husband, Les, are joined at the hip and love their daily walks with Beasley, our other dog. Grace even runs, albeit with a sort of hippity-hop due to her stiff hind legs. She quickly learned the doggie door and the whole routine out to our fenced yard and usually goes out slowly and then comes galloping back inside and right to Les as if eager to make certain that her good fortune in landing here is not just a dream.

We love her dearly and will take the best possible care of her throughout her last breath, whenever that comes.