Gretel's Shocking Story

After 30 years of dog rescue, it is hard to shock me. But when a woman drove up to my house and said she had taken a dog from the closet of a trailer being used to make the drug “meth” I didn’t know what to expect. When I saw Gretel for the first time, I just wanted to cry. Her whole body was bald and her skin would break if you even touched it. The woman said Gretel had been dying in the 104 degree weather, so she just took her. She said she took her to a vet who said she should be put to sleep, but I just couldn’t do that to the poor dog. Her eyes still had fight in them and I knew I could get her better.

I don’t know what is wrong with Gretel’s skin. Her first skin scrapes are negative and I can only guess this is some kind of chemical burn. God only knows what they did to this poor dog. Amazingly, she is incredibly sweet and did not even growl when I had to put a leash on her. She has a really bad cut on the back of her neck from where her collar was and I know it hurt her, but she didn’t complain. I think she knew she was finally safe.

Gretel has been with me for 24 hours and it is incredible how great she is doing. I put her on a memory foam bed (that was donated to me!) in the air conditioned house and she has not stopped wagging her tail since she got here. I’m just trying to keep her cool and comfortable for now. She is on antibiotics for staph infections and medication for her yeast infection of the skin. It is going to be a long road to recovery and it will be very expensive. I’m hoping that you will donate to her care, by clicking on this link. For the people who have already donated, thank you so much!

I will post pictures of her on this link as soon as the photos are not so sad. I told Gretel this morning that there are now thousands of people who are thinking about her and sending her well wishes. She gave a double tail wag for that one! Dogs are so resilient. I have no doubt that, with your help, she will look beautiful in just a few months.

Thank you!

Julie Adams

PAWS New England

Featured in “One Nation Under Dog”