Working in animal rescue can be extremely difficult. Hearing about beautiful creatures being euthanized at shelters, day in, day out, frequently gets overwhelming. Sometimes, the animal’s health is fading fast and it seems like the only humane solution, but far more often than not it’s a pet with many more years left in it, just the victim of overcrowding and overpopulation.

So when we’re able to intervene to save even one life, it helps ease the pain. Take the story of Daisy, for instance.

One day, Menna, one of our volunteers, was at Southern California Animal Hospital and noticed a strange energy in the office surrounding a woman and her Jack Russell Terrier, Daisy. It turned out that the woman’s husband was ill and they were remodeling their yard and, because she felt she could not longer take care of the dog, she’d taken her in to be euthanized. Apparently, she just wasn’t aware that there were other options for Daisy.

Not surprisingly, the staff didn’t want to put down a perfectly healthy, seemingly well-socialized pet, but they needed an alternative. Menna was able to intervene and boarded the dog for a few days while UHA looked for a foster or adopter for Daisy.

Around this time, one of our beloved rescue dogs, Lancelot, passed away and another of our volunteers, Amanda, decided to foster Daisy in his memory. Although she hadn’t felt quite ready, when she saw Menna’s plea along with the photo of Daisy, she knew she couldn’t resist.

Amanda explains, “Thankfully, I was able to step in straight away so that Daisy wouldn’t have to enter into the shelter system and be exposed to cold, stress and communicable diseases. I took photos of her at once and within two weeks we had two interested adopters.

The man who adopted her, Tom, fell madly in love with her. Even though initially his home situation wasn’t ideal (Daisy was a “bolter” and he didn’t have a front yard), he was willing to do whatever modifications were needed to make his home suitable for Daisy.

He ended up getting two doggie gates so that Daisy wouldn’t be able to shoot out the door into the street when they opened the door.

Daisy is Tom’s princess. He takes her everywhere he goes, and I think she’s probably got a rhinestone collar and matching leash!”

Indeed, it has been a fairy-tale ending for Daisy. As Tom puts it, “Daisy is a wonderful member of our family. We can we can hardly recall a time when she wasn’t a part of our daily lives. She goes everywhere with us. Whether it is uptown to get doggie snacks, off to have lunch or even a cross-country drive to visit friends and family, she is joyfully always there with her little tail wagging.

Her curiosity is unquenchable as is her lack of fear. She is so eager to see new things and meet as many dogs as she can. We have a wonderful vet whom she adores visiting! It’s so cute to watch her get excited about going into the office there when we go in there.

You can often find us at the Sierra Madre dog park in the mornings or venturing out and about through our neighborhood. She loves going for truck rides, so we’ll often take a little trip to new places for her to explore.

She is so happy.

Thank you again to you and your folks at United Hope for Animals for having the compassion and care to save her from destruction and bringing such joy and happiness to our lives.”

Amanda sums up, “Dog rescue is often heartbreaking when you see what some of these kind, innocent souls have been through, being neglected and mistreated, but when you are able to save a life, and give a dog that has plenty of years left a new happy home, it makes it all worthwhile. It really is a matter of just getting their sweet little faces out there in front of the public, and finding people who are willing to spend some of their free time helping these dogs get photographed and listed online to make a difference. Sometimes all you need to do is get a great photo and tell people a little about its personality and the before you know it the perfect person will come along.”

Check out these photos of Daisy in her new home – we think you’ll agree she’s content!