Turkey has a huge problem with stray dogs and the shelters are often completely overcrowded with many dogs starving as there is never enough food to go around. So when Mary's family moved out to Ankara, Turkey in 2013 for her husband's work, her and her three daughters wanted to help by volunteering at a local dog shelter.They never expected that one dog would change their lives forever.
Source: @Pawsitive
There were over 4,000 dogs at the shelter, crammed into tiny, filthy cages with no access to food and water. In a video about their experience, Mary the mother said:
It's so overwhelming because you just stare at these cages, rows and rows and rows of cages and twenty dogs to a cage. There were dead dogs everywhere... it's beyond heartbreaking.
Source: @Pawsitive
Among the thousands of dogs, there was a litter of puppies who had distemper, a fatal viral disease which affects the brain and spinal cord.The family decided to take the litter of four home with them so that they could die in peace, in a clean and warm environment. Mary said:
We didn't want them to die in their situation, they were getting trampled over and they were filthy. So we took them in, and we didn't think they'd make it... The first three did not.
Source: @Pawsitive
Sadly three of the puppies died, but the smallest one who couldn't walk fought to stay alive.
I thought we were just bringing her out to die basically, just in peace, but she proved us wrong. It's shocking that she actually made it.
Source: @Pawsitive
They called the miracle puppy Faith and helped her regain her strength bit by bit. At first she couldn't walk and she had no teeth from being so malnourished.
Source: @Pawsitive
But a few years on, and she's a bouncing, playful pup like any other! And she's soongoing home to America with her adoptive family who saved her life.
Source: @Pawsitive
“She's healthy and happy, she's very spoilt and she definitely knows she's very loved,” Maryfinished by saying.You can watch Faith's emotional survival story here:[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmwDXGDxFIA&feature=youtu.be[/embed]
