An abandoned dog refuses to leave the blanket his owner left him on New Year’s Eve
When Marina Tarashevska, co-founder of Dallas DogRRR, went for a walk in her neighborhood on New Year’s Eve, she spotted an abandoned dog clinging to the blanket.
According to locals, when the dog owner’s family moved out, they dumped trash and unneeded furniture in the alley behind the house. Unfortunately, they no longer wanted their dog, so they left him and his blanket on the street.
“It was really cold and rainy, and the dog was lying on her blanket – and she didn’t want to leave her,” said Patti Dawson, executive director of Dallas DogRRR. “I think she still thought her family was coming back. She was in that phase of ‘I’ll just wait here. This is familiar.’”
After learning the dog’s sad story, Tarashevska tried to save it. But it wasn’t easy. Every time Tarashevskam approached, the dog would run away, and when she backed away, the dog would return to the blanket.
This gave Tarashevska an idea. Every time the dog ran away, Tarashevska would pull the blanket down the alley toward her own house. After about an hour, the blanket – and the dog – had reached Tarashevska’s backyard, and Tarashevska was able to grab the dog and put it in a safe kennel.
Tarashevska called the dog Camilla, she was terrified. Tarashevska could also see that Camilla had recent injuries to her neck and ears. So she immediately took Camilla to the vet.
“The vet said it was either a sunken collar, which means she was probably kept outside,” Dawson said. “The only other possibility we could think of was that a dog had fought with her while she was outside. There are a lot of strays in the area, and maybe they were fighting over food.”
Camilla had surgery on her neck, and is now recovering medically and emotionally.
“She’s doing very well,” Dawson says. “Her personality is slowly coming out, and she’s starting to trust.”
Camilla is now living with a foster family, where she is receiving lots of love and attention. She will stay in foster care a little longer to continue healing, but she will soon be available for adoption.
