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17 Puppies


With her voice trembling over the phone, Mary felt completely hopeless. She had no income, too many animals and nowhere else to turn. Mary and her husband shared a home with their five dogs – most of them had been rescued from unthinkable situations. The first had been recovered from the middle of the street as a puppy. Another was found in an abandoned building and one had been found tied to a vacant house on a rope that was just 6 inches long. There was no doubt that Mary and her husband loved their pets.

But as Mary’s panicked tone indicated, she was facing a crisis. Two of her dogs had become pregnant. Before she knew it, Mary found herself with more dogs … 17 puppies to be exact. Her landlord found out and threatened to evict her. So she painstakingly found homes for each of the puppies through trusted members of her church. Mary knew she needed to have her dogs spayed and neutered, but she couldn’t afford it. She had almost given up hope until she called Animal Friends.

A calm voice told Mary to take a deep breath and not to worry. Help would soon be on the way.

Knowing we had to act fast, our Clinic Services team jumped into action. Animal Friends is a proud provider of the City of Pittsburgh’s Free Spay/Neuter program which allows city residents up to five free spay/neuter surgeries for pets with a license.

That’s when the compassion of our staff and volunteers took over. An Animal Friends staff member drove to Mary’s house where together they filled out the application. They even walked down the street to her sister’s house to fill out an application for one of the 17 puppies and an adult dog.

Early the next morning, we picked up Mary’s dogs from her house. They were brought to Animal Friends where they underwent spay/neuter surgeries, and were returned home that evening.

We called Mary the next day to see how her pups were doing post-surgery and she broke down in tears. She was so grateful that we were able to give her the help and peace of mind she so desperately needed. Mary vowed to help the new families of each of the remaining puppies to get them spayed and neutered through Animal Friends.

Through the Animal Friends for Life program, we challenge ourselves to see each situation from our client’s point of view. This program is a core component of our mission to end pet overpopulation and unwarranted euthanasia in our region. Without this program, the underserved communities in our region would not have access to these lifesaving services.

At Animal Friends, every day is full of compassion. Visit ThinkingOutsideTheCage.org/31Days to turn your compassion into action. After all, it only takes one day to alter a life.

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