SWESR is fortunate to have wonderful and dedicated volunteers, many of whom have been with the organization since its inception. Susan is one such volunteer, who has fostered, forever fostered, and adopted more dogs in her adult life than she can count. A dozen? Absolutely. Two dozen? Yes. Three dozen? More? Highly likely. So many have gone in and out of her home, but here are the stories of two special dogs with very different stories, both of whom made the same indelible mark on Susan’s heart.

Dolly, whose original name was Birdie, was the product of a casual backyard breeder situation. When she was 8-weeks old, her owners gave her to family friends. This new family had a fairly chaotic life. From the time of her adoption Dolly spent up to 9 hours a day completely alone. The family did have a 5-year old child, who may have been Dolly’s only consistent human companion. Overall, though, this family had no idea how to care for a dog. They were neglectful. She had minimal human interaction, no training, no veterinary visits, no preventative health care, no safety. Understandably, Dolly was bored and lonely, and she acted out accordingly. She was a wild child. She escaped from them whenever she could. She chased cars, a behavior that constantly placed her in danger.

Harvey came into rescue after being found as a wandering stray in Texas. He was brought to an animal shelter which is where SWESR found him. During Harvey’s vetting he was diagnosed as Chagas positive, so he spent some months with an experienced SWESR foster in Texas who provided him a settled home while he began Chagas treatment and could decompress from the stress of being a stray.