06/10/2026
A special happily ever after for a scruffy mama pup 🩷
Blanche was found in Aguada, along the coast near a busy road.
A huge thank-you to Mikey Ortiz Mikey for helping catch her and her puppy. They were brought to a safe temporary shelter at our friend Alayna’s, LaylaBaconPant$ . The puppy was soon adopted locally by Trinity, while Blanche went to foster with Doug and Linda, who have a bunch dogs of their own!
And now for the best part: a message from her new mama, Dennie, in Manhattan, as Blanche begins her next chapter:
“When I saw Blanche’s picture, it was a bolt of lightning—love at first sight!
I applied to be her forever mom, and the amazing Sarah at PRDF told me she was spoken for and would be flown to another family. I was offered the chance to adopt other puppies, but this little dog they’d found on the beach had my heart. I was grateful, but it was a no.
And then—what? Sarah told me the family had backed out. Yaaaay! I cried when I picked her up at LaGuardia with her ‘flying angels,’ PRDF dog-walker volunteer Ismay and her mom, Sara. She was very scared and timid, but her tail never stopped wagging with hope.
It’s been three weeks, and every day becomes more of a love-fest. At 8 a.m. every morning, she comes flying into bed to play and cuddle and get me up for breakfast. I’m not sure what she went through before this amazing organization found her, and I’m so grateful to the mom who fostered her, Linda Semones.
We have a few things to learn, like walking on a leash along the sidewalk, but we have all the time in the world to discover the East River, Central Park, and sidewalk cafés!
I’m beyond happy. I renamed her Rio (after the Duran Duran lyric, ‘Her name is Rio and she danced upon the sand’), and she seems to like it—especially when she hears me heading to the refrigerator… hmm.
Love came to me in the form of a small, wiry-haired dog with giant eyes and an open heart.”
She’s a completely different dog now: her coat has grown back, she’s no longer in survival mode, and she gets to live the soft life she deserves.
So many wonderful people helped make this possible, and we can’t thank you all enough.
H
