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At our local PetSmart, we went inside the adoption center and looked at cats and dogs. On the dog side, it was chaos, everyone barking or starting to bark once you came up to the cage. We looked at all of them and read their stories. Then there was her.

DOG. PHOTO: PIXABAY / 15299

Bottom cage, staring out, not really looking at anything, not making a peep, looking pitiful.

Sign: Madison. 12-years-old. No adoption fee.

We finished looking around, came back to her, and started discussing taking her home. We left the store but came back a few hours later. Her medical records were dismaying. Possibly blind, hernia or lymphoma, missing teeth. The pound and rescue group were not willing or able to spend any money on tests due to age. We took her into the "get to know you" room and she just sat there on my husband’s lap. We said we'd think about it.

We Googled hernia and lymphoma and decided hernia we could possibly fix, lymphoma not, but we could offer her some comfort and love. So we went back again and took her home.

PHOTO: K. B. FROM PHOENIX, AZ

The vet exam revealed she wasn't blind but probably had very cloudy vision. She more likely had a hernia than lymphoma because the lump could be pushed back into place. That indicated fatty tissue rather than any organs protruding, so no need to do anything at the moment. Although she started coughing severely a week after adoption, she was in better shape than thought.

She had been surrendered over a month before we saw her.

She is quiet and observant, fazed by nothing. We’re happy to give her a safe, loving home for the rest of her days.

Story submitted by K. B. from Phoenix, Arizona.

This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!