Soda's Story
by Pat Friedrich, Pet Refuge Volunteer

From Rags...	...to Riches

      Soda has passed through the loving hands and stolen the hearts of many angels on her journey that will be complete when she finds her forever home.
      Although we do not know her entire history, Soda's rescue story began on February 11, 2002, when a neighboring agency received a report of a dog starving to death in an abandoned building out in the country (her unusual name is a derivation of the name of the street on which she was found). The agency picked her up, began caring for her, and got her some much-needed medical attention. The shelter had her tested for heartworm and internal parasites, for which the results were negative. Soda was dreadfully thin and probably would not have lived much longer had she not been found. The shelter responsible for rescuing her gave her special attention, fed Soda her favorite foods, and began putting weight on her. There was some concern about underlying medical problems because the weight gain was slow initially. An anonymous angel generously donated the cost of bloodwork to the shelter, so it was able to have that done next. The results of those tests were good, so it continued to feed her what she liked best. Her hearing was tested at that time and it was confirmed that she is deaf.

      It was clear that the road to recovery was going to be long and the shelter felt that keeping Soda in a kennel was not in her best interest for such an extended period of time. Soda, justifiably, was a bit cranky and a little leery of being handled and restrained, and of anything unfamiliar. Some of the vets who had seen her suspected that she had been physically abused, as well as neglected. Fortunately for Soda, her first caretakers/angels chose not to euthanize her, but to send her along to the next step of her journey. This is when Pet Refuge entered the scene.
     Pet Refuge accepted Soda into its the system and immediately put her into a foster home. She was vaccinated, but nothing more was done medically until she had gained enough weight to be able to undergo anesthesia safely. At that time, she was spayed and some little benign "warty" type growths were removed. She has recovered from her surgery and has attained her target weight.

      Soda regularly attends adoption events and she has another angel who drops in frequently on those days to treat her to Beggin' Strips (her favorite) and belly rubs. Soda looks beautiful now, though she may never recover all her muscle tone. She is learning to play and to live the life of a dog. She prances about, rolls in the grass, and loves to tease her foster mom ("catch-me-if-you-can"). She has become a bit spoiled, but has aboslutely earned that right! Although not fond of other dogs, Soda will tolerate a select few as long as they agree that she is the boss. She has a very discriminating palate (i.e. she is a picky eater!!) and a strong will (translation: stubborn streak) that probably saved her life on more than one occasion. Her disposition is wonderful, though not without quirks. She has turned into a happy, healthy, and beautiful dog who is waiting for her final angel on her long journey.
     Although Soda has not had a wonderful life in the past, her luck changed when a particularly caring Animal Control agency picked her up on that winter day. Through a combined effort of caring people and shelters, she has become one of the lucky few to come out the other side. Her world will be complete when she meets her forever family, her future becomes secure, and her life will be stable. Soda will return the love many times over. She is a wonderful girl!

     We hope to give this story a happy ending soon.... Please read Soda's description and e-mail us if you are interested in meeting Soda.