09/23/2026
What do you do when someone places a very sick puppy in your arms and you know he is unlikely to survive without immediate treatment?
He is all bones and softness in your arms, his soulful eyes on yours as he gently wags his tail - almost cartoon-like. Basically Puss in Boots in puppy form! And you know you have the medicines and expertise right there to start saving his life.
You say yes, right? I mean, of course?
But what if you’ve already said yes to hundreds of animals in the last couple of months alone and your sanctuary is full, your foster homes are full, your team is stretched - and your medical budget is stretched even further? And what if you’d just declared a firm intake hold because responsible rescue means knowing your capacity?
And yet, as you’re holding this little guy, you also know something else. You know that every yes has only been possible because other people helped make it so. Donors have helped provide medical care, food and resources, fosters open their homes time and again, and volunteers generously give their time and energy.
They were not all standing there with me at the sanctuary doors on Monday when two people walked up with him, saying he was found alone, starving. But they are our extended team - and they gave me enough confidence to say yes to him anyway, eyes wide open as to what that meant.
Little Chai, as we named him, was dehydrated, anemic, emaciated and dangerously weak. Parasites are normal in rescue, but a puppy this depleted can decline quickly - sometimes in a matter of hours. We know this. We’ve experienced the heartbreak of animals reaching us when it was too late to undo what happened before.
Multiple tests showed he didn’t have parvo, whew (like, WHEW), but he did have one of the heaviest parasite loads we’ve ever seen of both coccidia and hookworms. Our vet team started treatment: fluids, B12, vitamin paste. Fed him by hand, cleaned his mucky ears, bathed him, rid him of fleas, gave all the medicines, preventatives and vaccines.
He has a stretch ahead of him, but Chai is going to live. And love. And be loved.
Actually, he already is.
If you can help to support Chai - and the hundreds of other rescue pets we currently have in care, we would so appreciate it. Able to foster or volunteer? Wonderful. Even just sharing our donate link helps: Give.BeautifulTogetherSanctuary.com
