Many people available treat their dogs like their children, but then there are others, who subjugate these sweet creatures to extremely inhumane conditions.

Cala, the guard-dog of a technician in San Jose, Costa Rica, was one of those unfortunate puppies. Her owner kept her chained up on a chain so short that she had no chance of resting her head and could barely breathe. When she was sick the owner wouldn’t take her to the vet and rarely fed her. Luckily for Cala, her suffering had a positive end.

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Worried neighbors saw the problems her owner had actually kept her in for years and reported them to the cops as well as the animal sanctuary Territorio de Zaguates. When she was finally saved, Cala needed to be treated for emaciation, injuries, and malnutrition.

Lya Battle, the owner of Territorio de Zaguates, told the Dodo, “The picture I initially saw of her revealed a pitiful creature robbed of its dignity and prepared to give up– a canine whose spirit had actually been broken and was just waiting for the end to come while living a never-ending nightmare.” She explained the healing process as a slow one, “the humans around her still needed to cause her pain via the curing of her wounds, especially the gash in her neck caused by years of hanging from a tight steel chain around her neck,”

Even after her resue Cala would come to endure more abuse by humans. In June, people snuck into the shelter in an attempt to eliminate some of the dogs with poison sausages. While 16 of the canines died, this tenacious pup survived. Fight said this was probably in part because of her size and although she suffered some neurological problems Cala’s health returned.

Today Cala is living with a host family and has actually learned to agree new humans and dogs alike. “After years of neglect, torture, and imprisonment, Cala appears to be getting all the puppy misbehaving procedure out of her system and we all think that’s simply fine. She mores than happy, strong, willful, a little bit stubborn, and spoiled by her foster mom and family,” said Fight, adding, “This rescue is an epic fight of great against poor and of hate versus love, and in the end, as it constantly does, love wins.

Territorio de Zaguates rescues and sanctuaries thousands of dogs in Costa Rica without home so they can “receive lots of affection and socialize with the people and families.”