The story of Panda...

Last week I was contacted by No Kill Colorado Coalition in desperate need of shelters willing to help house over 80 dogs in a terrible situation. The story of these dogs has been publicized state-wide and through social media... There is a small community named Antonito in southern Colorado that over the years has become a "dumping ground" for unwanted pets. Most of these dogs were "dumped" unaltered and as a result, an abundance of breeding occurred. The community members of Antonito quickly became intolerant of the homeless dog population. Allegedly, many of these dogs became victim of terrible abuse. There are rumors that many of the strays were used as target practice, games or competitions were erected in regards to running them over in vehicles, and there are allegations of community members using live traps and poisoning them.

When I first received this information, I began researching it immediately. The more articles I read and the more information I received from No Kill Colorado made me so sick I was in tears. As most of you know, we are a smaller shelter with limited capacity for canine kennels, but we were determined to help save at least one of these poor babies. When they arrived at the shelter Sunday night, I was informed that 80 dogs had been rescued from the community, spay and neutered, and in temporary foster homes or shelters. That's when we met Panda...

She bolted through the door and jumped straight into my arms! I was BLOWN AWAY that after everything this poor girl had gone through and witnessed that her spirits were so high and un-broken. There wasn't a moment when she wasn't smiling or wagging her tail! Panda was so excited when we showed her to her indoor run! She jumped onto the big thick blanket and rolled around on it, ran over to her toys and threw them up in the air and tossed them about in her kennel... After a couple hours I shut off the lights and went to the back to say goodnight to all our animals before locking up. Panda quietly came to the front of the kennel and nestled her head in the palm of my hand... almost as if she was saying thank you.

We have had Panda for a couple days now and EVERYONE has fallen in love with her! She is such a good girl and so loving. I am hoping you all fall in love with her too and possibly know someone who might want to meet Panda and give her the gift of a forever home.

Warm Regards,

Carrie David
Shelter Director

Post Pixs of this precious pup!