A pit bull mix has found a new home and a new name after being rescued by a woman in a New York City subway station. The woman, Heather Hamm, saw a post on the “NYC Free at the Curb” Instagram account that helps unwanted belongings find a new home. The account is a public service where eagle-eyed New Yorkers send pictures of furniture or useful items that have been tossed out in the hope those items can find a new life in a new home. A woman on her way to work last Monday sent in a photo of a confused, sad-looking pit bull mix she spotted tied up with a rope in the Fulton Street subway station.
Heather Hamm had been thinking about getting a dog for some time. That night, she was home looking at her phone when she saw the post about the abandoned dog. “I was actually just looking previously at foster dogs, and then, I had opened up Instagram and I saw her. She was the first post on there, and I was like, ‘There she is,’” Hamm said.
Hamm couldn’t resist. She hopped in a Lyft and headed to the subway station, where some police officers were standing with the dog. “And I was just like, ‘Can I have her?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, she’s your dog now because she obviously likes you,’” Hamm said. “I called her Peaches, and she responded. So, I kinda think that’s already her name.”
Less than 24 hours after the rescue, Peaches had not only a new name but a new pink harness and a clean bill of health from the veterinarian, who found no microchip and estimated her age at 6 to 9 months.
Hamm and Peaches couldn’t be more of a perfect match, as Hamm works in a studio that’s dog-friendly, giving Peaches a place to make new dog friends. “It’s been a running thing in my studio where everyone’s like, ‘Heather, you need to get a dog,’” Hamm said. What’s more, Hamm grew up with a dog and had been hoping to adopt one of her own; though rescuing one from an Instagram account where she had previously gotten pieces of furniture wasn’t quite what she had in mind.
The identity of whoever abandoned Peaches in the subway is a mystery. While there are plenty of cameras above ground in the Financial District and in the subway station itself, there are none in the stairwell where the dog was found. However, there is enough foot traffic in the area at all hours to ensure somebody would find her.
The “NYC Free at the Curb” Instagram account has been a public service for several years now. It is an account where people can find unwanted but useful things and give them a new life. Hamm has found many things from the account, such as her coffee table and couch, but finding a dog was a surprise. Hamm and Peaches have become the perfect match as Hamm works in a dog-friendly studio where Peaches has made new dog friends.