Today, Coco is a happy, playful and curious dog, but when she was first brought in to the Los Cabos Humane Society, no-one thought she would last the night.
Debbie Lair, a Rescue Faerie volunteer, was on vacation in Cabo San Lucas in May 2016. She stopped by the Humane society shelter to volunteer for the day (and to get ready to escort a group of rescued dogs up to Portland).
Debbie continues the story!
While I was out walking the shelter’s dogs, a photographer brought Coco in. He had found her in a ditch and thought she was dead, until she opened an eye.
She weighed just 10 pounds and was covered head to toe in mange,
The vet was going to euthanize Coco as she was so emaciated she didn't think Coco would make it. It just broke my heart, so I sat down in front of her kennel (the shelter wouldn't let me climb in) and started talking to her.
I told her how beautiful she was and how much we loved her, as I believed that if she was going to die she needed some love for her last moments. Clearly, she hadn't felt love for a very long time. She was so weak she couldn't even lift her head. But after 10 minutes she opened an eye and slightly wagged her tail. That was it, I was hooked!
I told the rescue that if she tested negatively for parvo and distemper, I would send them money to help rehabilitate her. They agreed and miraculously her tests were negative - one more sign that she was destined to live.
I sent them $20-25/month from May to September. For a few weeks, the shelter manager would go home at night & cook scrambled eggs, rice, & liver for her to eat the next day. Her intestines were too ravaged for her to eat dog food.
The shelter staff bathed her every 2 days in medicated shampoo, and then rubbed coconut oil and aloe-vera all over her skin to help her fur grow back after the mange cleared up. They really, really brought her back to life.
The shelter sent me pictures every few weeks. It made me so happy to watch her become healthy and happy!
So, on October 4th, 2016 Suzanne (Suzanne Hein Fountain, Rescue Faerie’s founder and director), called and said, "she's coming!”.
Suzanne put together a Go Fund Me campaign to get Coco flown here. In 3 hours, we raised enough money, and $1000 later, Coco was on an airplane. My daughter and I picked her up on October 5th, 2016.
It was awesome! I swear she remembered me.
We took her home.
At first, Coco was afraid of the stairs. She was afraid of the TV. She could see her reflection in the windows and was afraid of that.
But she adjusted very quickly.
I expected her to have more issues after living on the streets. Who knows if she was ever in a home?
She mastered the doggie door right away but would not go outside in the rain. Cabo dog, right? So, for the first week I had to take her for a walk around the block to get her to pee/poop. She liked the walk more than she hated the rain. After about a week, she adjusted to the rain, and all was good.
Now, the only fear she has is when a bigger dog plays too hard. That intimidates her, probably because she got her butt kicked at some point in her past. She has no aggression. She's just SO HAPPY!
She was 10 lbs. when they found her, but she’s 30 lbs. now. She will scavenge for any food she can find. That’s probably from her life as a street dog. Otherwise, you’d never know that she was once so near death.
Coco is the friendliest, happiest dog I have ever had the pleasure of sharing my life with. She loves everyone, everything. Sometimes she’s too friendly, and she jumps on people. We’re working on that.
Coco wants to play all the time. When we go to the dog park she will run in circles to get a dog to chase her. She LOVES to be chased!
This past summer, we lost our Chi-Weenie, Bentley. Coco missed him. So, I adopted Peanut. When I brought the new Little home, Coco welcomed her instantly, even though Peanut was a bit snarky in the beginning - just scared. But Coco just let her be for a bit and won her over. Now, they are BEST friends!
Rescue Faerie is a fabulous rescue. I am constantly trying to recruit volunteers, transporters and adopters.
Do you want to be part of rescue stories like Coco's?
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