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A PAWS New England movie star needs your help!

It’s amazing how one share of one video on social media can lead to such a life-changing course of events. We receive messages in our inbox all the time of dogs facing euthanasia at shelters and have the heartbreaking job of replying that we don’t have space or finances to be able to help.

But there was something about this little white and tan girl, frozen in the corner of kennel. Her only movements were bouts of shaking when a kind volunteer tried to comfort her and the frantic darting of her eyes. Arya was one of thousands of dogs that had been found as a stray in the Memphis, TN area and was brought to Memphis Animal Control where she faced a significant threat of euthanasia due to extreme animal overpopulation in the city. It was obvious that she had recently had puppies, but they were nowhere to be seen. As a terrier mix who was terrified of people, her likelihood of ever seeing the outside of animal control was almost zero.

Somehow the video of her shaking in the corner found its way to PAWS New England and we couldn’t turn away. A flurry of activity erupted to organize a way for Arya to get out of the shelter and into a foster home equipped to help this terror-stricken young dog. What transpired over the next few days was nothing short of a miracle. Foster hero Deb Testa graciously offered to take in Arya while we made arrangements for her to get into a specialized foster home in Michigan at the home of the executive director at PAWS New England. Two big-hearted pilots from Pilots N Paws offered to fly Arya to Michigan and we were lucky enough for an exceptional film crew from FedEx to capture the entire event!

We hope you will enjoy this extraordinary film created by the team at FedEx and share Arya’s story. As you can see in the film, she is settling in beautifully. Unfortunately, what you don’t see, is that Arya has some pretty severe orthopedic issues with her knees. Once Arya stopped being a statue and started playing and running normally, we noticed that she could barely walk some days. Our veterinarians diagnosed her with severely subluxing patellas on both legs and she will require pretty extensive orthopedic surgery so she can live a wonderfully happy and healthy life. We are having to delay this surgery until after her heartworm treatment. Arya’s medical bill will be in the thousands and we are so hopeful that people will consider making a donation to her care. This will not only enable us to help Arya walk without pain, but it will also give us the ability to answer the cries for help when the next Arya comes into the shelter with no chance.

To make a donation, please click on this link: https://pawsnewengland.com/donate

To learn about adopting Arya, please click on this link:

https://pawsnewengland.com/our-dogs-list/

All donations collected through the end of the weekend will be going towards Arya’s medical bills, so there is no need to specify what the donation is for. Thank you so much for your generosity!

Special thanks to everyone who made this save possible: Deb Testa (PAWS New England), Jeff Kilmer (Pilots n Paws), Timothy Harris (Pilots n Paws), Justin Fenner (Pilots n Paws), Tim Miller (FedEx), Sean Bloemer (FedEx) and Jason Douglas (FedEx) and Ann Arbor Animal Hospital and Animal Surgical Center.

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