Adopter Name

Chris Erickson

Rescue Dog’s Name

Hope

Where Did You Find Your Dog?

Hope came from a hoarding case in Brown County, OH. She ended up in the Brown County Animal Shelter, where she was pulled by the Stray Animal Adoption Program. My wife Marcia and I are SAAP fosters and took her in. It was originally thought that she was pregnant, but it ultimately discovered that her stomach was just severely distended. Both of her ears were infected, as were both of her eyes. She also had a bladder infection. Her teeth were worn down from years of chewing on a metal crate and ultimately nine of them had to be pulled. In short, she needed a lot of help and rescue was her only hope of getting the care she needed.

Tell Us About the Moment When You Knew that You Two Were Meant for Each Other.

Hope’s had a very difficult first eight years of her life. She was terrified of any human contact at all. After about two months, she opened up just a little bit, but enough to let us see that there was a wonderful personality hidden behind the fear. Through the patience of working around and through her fears, we began to get to know who she really was and ultimately fell in love, right down to the last little quirk. The trust we earned from her took months and we knew it was tough on her. We couldn’t bring ourselves to put her through that again and decided we needed to ”foster fail” and make her a permanent member of our family.

How Has Your Hero Changed Your Life?

Hope showed us just how resilient animals can be. Despite the health issues and years of neglect, she had the courage to open up to at least a few people and allow herself to bond with us. This was also our first experience with a special needs animal. Playing a role in her transformation has been an incredibly rewarding experience, one that has strengthened our commitment to animal rescue.