06/18/2026
Some days in animal rescue stay with you forever. Let me tell you about one of those days.
It was late last Saturday afternoon, and just as we were wrapping up another long day at AHHS, the phone rang.
On the other end was a member of our community, their voice filled with concern. They had found two tiny puppies abandoned on the side of the road.
Dumped. Left defenseless in the blazing June heat. Too young to fend for themselves.
They didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know who else to call. But they knew one thing—they couldn’t leave those puppies there to die on the side of a Washington County road.
So they did the human thing.
They scooped them up and started searching for help.
Our little nonprofit rescue was already full. We were short-staffed. My team had already spent hours cleaning, medicating, feeding, comforting, and caring for a building bursting at the seams with neglected, abused, and injured animals.
They were exhausted. Hungry. Sweaty. Ready to go home.
But when I heard about these puppies, there was only one question on my mind:
How could we possibly say no?
A short time later, they arrived on our doorstep.
Not in a cozy crate.
Not wrapped in blankets.
They arrived in a plastic storage bin carrying what remained of two tiny lives—a little boy and a little girl.
Together, they barely weighed ten pounds.
Their bodies were covered in f***s and soaked with urine. Their fur smelled of cigarette smoke and moldy trash. They panted heavily from the suffocating heat. Their gums were pale. Their eyes were dull.
They were dehydrated. Emaciated. Malnourished. Heartbreakingly young.
I don’t know how long they sat in the June sun.
I don’t know how many cars passed them by.
I don’t know who left them there.
What I do know is they were running out of time.
As my team gathered around them, every instinct shifted from ending the workday to saving lives.
Fresh water.
Medical supplies.
Emergency assessments.
Everyone moved without hesitation.
Because that’s who they are. That’s my team.
Then we took a closer look at the little girl.
Her front leg hung at an unnatural angle. Even to my untrained eye, it was obvious there were multiple breaks.
Then we realized something even more heartbreaking.
These weren’t fresh injuries.
Her body had already begun adapting to them. Thick sores, raw wounds, and hardened calluses covered the damaged limb. It appeared she had spent weeks using those broken bones to bear weight and move herself around - something like a pirate peg leg.
But this wasn’t some storybook adventure.
This was relentless pain.
Every step likely hurt.
Every attempt to keep up with her brother likely hurt.
Every day she survived likely hurt.
And yet she kept fighting.
We’ll never know exactly what happened to her. Was she hit by a car? Was she born this way?
What we do know is she spent far too much of her short life suffering.
And somehow, despite all of it, she still looked up at us with trust.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Trust.
The kind of trust animals continue to give humanity even after humanity has failed them.
As we cleaned them, cooled them down, and began treatment, I found myself struggling to hold back tears.
Not because this is unusual in rescue.
But because it shouldn’t be.
No puppy should know this kind of suffering.
No puppy should learn to walk on broken bones before they learn what it feels like to sleep safely.
Yet here they are.
Two babies whose lives had barely begun.
The little girl now faces extensive diagnostics, orthopedic care, pain management, and specialized veterinary treatment. Both puppies need medical care, good nutrition, parasite treatment, vaccines, rehabilitation, and time to heal—physically and emotionally.
We said yes because they deserved a chance.
Today, we’re asking if you’ll say yes too.
Because while someone chose to throw them away…
We can choose a different ending.
We can choose healing.
We can choose compassion.
We can choose hope.
For these two tiny puppies, that choice could mean everything.
Please donate today and help us give these babies the future they deserve.
https://ahhumanesociety.networkforgood.com/projects/302269-two-tiny-lives-one-big-chance
