Pet's Age
7

A little about me...
The first time I learned of Penny’s backstory, I started sobbing. How could such a sweet and loving dog go through so much and still have trust in humans?

We adopted Penny in July of 2019. I fell in love with her picture as soon as I saw her. I’m pretty sure I contacted the rescue less than 10 minutes after she was posted as “available.” There was something about her beautiful eyes that drew me in.

Fortunately, we were the first to express interest in Penny, so we scheduled a meet and greet to see how she’d do with our cat. The previous dog we had met wanted to eat our cat for lunch, so we were hopeful that this time around would go a little smoother.

Penny and her foster came over, and the first thing Penny did when she walked into our house is curl up on the couch. My husband and I glanced at each other and we both knew that this was the dog meant for us. I mean, she already seemed right at home. Her foster insisted that we take the night to think it over, which is totally
Understandable, but only a few hours after she left I was messaging her to say we wanted to adopt Penny.

It turns out, her foster loved her too. She wanted to spend one more night with her knowing she was going to her forever home. We are grateful that her foster didn’t “fail” with her because that we know how easily could have happened and we are so lucky that she’s ours.

Fast forward a few weeks later when I learned of Penny’s full story. We knew Penny had recently had puppies before we adopted her, but we had no idea just how much she went through before coming to us. The rescue posted her “success story” - cue the tears. My husband was walking out of a store and saw me bawling in the car, and he thought someone had died. So I had to explain to him, through my tears, all that our girl had endured.

Penny is from Texas, and like so many dogs down there, she found herself alone and on the streets. We have no idea how she got there, but what we do know is that animal control picked her up one day and she was starving. At a mere 35 pounds, she was literally fighting for her life. They are so overrun with strays in Texas that she wound up on a list to be put down. Before that happened though, someone noticed that she could be pregnant. Luckily, Flights to Furever stepped in and took Penny into their care. They confirmed she was pregnant and secured a foster home.

Penny was able to have her 8 puppies in a foster home and, despite being emaciated, was determined to care for them. From what we’ve been told, she was an amazing mom. And we don’t doubt it. Even though she couldn’t nurse them herself as she was malnourished, she made sure that each pup was taken care of.

Nickel City Canine Rescue partners with Flights to Furever, and foster in Western New York tagged Penny and her puppies for a ride up north. But Penny’s story doesn’t end there.

Shortly after her adoption, we had to take her to her scheduled spay appointment. We had noticed that there was a small lump behind one of her ears so we let the vet know about it. The vet agreed to explore it while she was under for her spay. When we went to pick her up after her successful surgery, the vet handed us a vile with a BB inside. The vet believed someone shot her with a BB gun and a BB grazed her forehead before getting lodged under her skin and behind her ear.

Our relative is a state trooper, and when we showed her the BB, she corrected us. She said, “that’s not from a BB gun. That’s a bullet from a .22!” We couldn’t believe it. Someone tried to shoot our girl. Again to her luck, her skull did its job and protected her.

Today, Penny is over 50 pounds and thriving. She can be found laying in the sun or cuddling with her feline brother. We were so inspired by Penny’s rescue story that we decided a few years back to start fostering. Penny has been a wonderful foster dog to 20+ dogs. She helps them learn to just be a dog and enjoy the little things in life like walks, treats, and belly rubs.

Everyone who meets Penny falls in love with her. Despite the odds that were stacked up against her, she overcame her obstacles. She is an inspirational dog and has truly changed our lives for the better.