When Marina Tarashevska, cofounder of Dallas DogRRR, went for a walk in her neighborhood on New Year’s Day, she spotted an abandoned dog clinging to the blanket.
According to the people living nearby, when the dog’s owner’s family moved to another place, they threw trash and unnecessary furniture in the alley behind the house. Sadly, one thing they didn’t want anymore was their dog — so they left her and her blanket out on the street.
“It was really cold and rainy, and the dog was lying on her blanket — and she wouldn’t leave it,” Patti Dawson, executive director of Dallas DogRRR said. “I think she was still thinking her family would come back. She was in that stage of, ‘I’ll just wait here. This is familiar.’”
After learning the dog’s sad story, Tarashevska tried to rescue the dog. But it’s not easy. Every time Tarashevskam approached, the dog ran away, and when she retreated, the dog returned to the blanket.
This gave Tarashevska an idea. Every time the dog ran away, Tarashevska pulled the blanket down the alley towards her own house. After about an hour, the blanket — and the dog — had reached Tarashevska’s backyard, and Tarashevska was able to grab hold of the dog and get her into the safety of a kennel.
Tarashevska named the dog Camilla, she was terrified. Tarashevska could also see that Camilla had fresh wounds on her neck and ears — so she immediately brought Camilla to the vet.
“The vet said it was either an embedded collar, meaning she was probably kept outside,” Dawson said. “The only other thing we thought of was that a dog had gotten into a fight with her when she got outside. There’re lots of stray animals out there, and so maybe they got into a scuffle over food.”
Camilla underwent neck surgery, and she is now recovering both medically and emotionally.
“She’s doing great,” Dawson said. “Her personality is slowly coming out, and she’s starting to trust.”
Camilla is now living in a foster home, where she’s getting lots of love and attention. She will stay in foster care a little longer so she can continue to heal, but she’ll soon be up for adoption.
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