Who rescued Who?

by Barbara Blackman
(Cherry Hill, NJ)

My rescued pitbull, Savannah, came into my life June 13th, 2010 for the first time. I saw her picture online on the 11th only 2 weeks after my pitbull/rottweiler mix, DOzer, of 8.5 years passed away from cancer. I was extremely depressed and wanted to get another dog but all the ones I saw locally at the shelters just didn't have that "thing" about them...and none were cat-friendly...I saw Savannah's picture, she was the one in Philadelphia. I live in South Jersey.

This is her story:
She was found in South Philly tied to a fence after she was used for breeding then contracted an infection in her vulva...she was picked up by Philly Animal Control yet they are so overloaded they only keep dogs for a limited amount of time and pitbulls are always the first to be euthanized.

PAWS, Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society~the ONLY no kill shelter in Philadelphia~pulled her out and put her in foster care. As soon as she was spayed and put on antibiotics, the infection went away. I contacted her foster mom about meeting her, we scheduled it for Sunday at 1pm.

I could not get a hold of the foster mom at the time of our appointment, but there was something about Savannah's picture that I couldn't let go of. So I kept calling and calling until I got a hold of her. I drove out to Philly, after meeting 5 other dogs that day, and the second she opened the door and I saw Savannah just sitting there, looking at me, with her GIGANTIC soulful eyes and her little cocked head, I FELL IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.

I wrote out the check and filled out the application right there. She said I was the only one who had been interested and she was mine if I wanted her. I WANTED her. I went back the next day to see her, and then got all the necessary things I may need and picked her up 4 days later.

She was sadly infested with fleas when I got her and she is allergic to them so she also got a staph infection from it but it cleared up right away with medication, she is on her flea preventative regularly and takes 1 Benadryl a night at bedtime.

She is the LIGHT OF MY LIFE. I don't know if I rescued her or she rescued me, but she is the BEST thing that has ever happened to me. Her foster mom did a great job or she is just a GREAT dog. She came to me house trained, crate trained, walks very well on a leash, is good with dogs and people, and after a month or so has become best friends with my rescued kitty cat, Bianca.

I don't know why anyone would ever give her up but lucky for me they did, their loss is certainly my gain!!!