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'The Perfect Dog'
Boxer Named 'Faith' Wins 'Doing More for Pets' Contest
Ambassador: Pam Mayes
Pet Name: Faith
Ten amazing stories about abandoned animals given a second chance at life made this year’s "Doing More for Pets" Rescue Stories Contest one of the best ever. Voting was very close in the third annual contest, as thousands of people selected their favorite entry. When the winner was announced on October 30, it was a Boxer named ‘Faith,’ befriended by Alabama Pug Rescue, whose inspirational story captured the hearts of pet lovers everywhere.
No one will ever know why the owner of a sweet, loving -- albeit emaciated, severely injured and emotionally starved -- Boxer took time to turn her into the Shelby County (Ala.) Humane Society. All will agree it was a miracle.
Dr. Dara Dickey, a veterinarian at the 280 Animal Medical Center in Westover, Ala., has a reputation for assisting pet rescues. She got the call from the shelter that the dog needed help. In turn, Dickey called Pam Mayes, president of Alabama Pet Rescue, thinking Mayes could help find a Boxer rescue group. When no vacancies could be found, Mayes welcomed the 2-year-old Boxer into Alabama Pug Rescue.
Faith had been used to breed an unknown number of litters and was still lactating when her owner brought her in. She was surrendered long after having been hit by a car, which had left her jaw harshly broken, yet flimsily attached. Not surprisingly, she was largely unable to eat or drink herself. Faith's pelvis was knocked out of position, fractured. She also was fighting infection in open, untreated wounds.
When Dickey first took Faith into the clinic she operates with two other veterinarians, the Boxer weighed 31 pounds. "She was a walking skeleton,” Dickey says. "Her jaw just hung down, and her teeth were spread out. But she had a fighting spirit."
Having agreed that Mayes would care for Faith until an adoptive family could be found, Dickey and the clinic staff began Faith's lengthy rehabilitation, which included three surgeries to reconstruct her jaw, the left side of which was removed. Her heavy jowls usually conceal the absence. Faith would stay at the clinic for three months, healing not only physically but also developing social skills with the staff at the clinic.
Having gone home with Mayes several months ago, Faith’s recovery also involved a rugged road of emotional healing. Though the process continues, Mayes energetically describes how much progress Faith has made.
"When she first came home with us, I'd have to sit 10 feet away from her until she trusted me enough to come lay by me," Mayes says. "She really was afraid of my husband, Larry. She had horrible fears of men. Now, she's 150 percent better. She is great with men. She's also gone with one of the veterinarians to visit a kindergarten class. That she is now so outgoing with people is absolutely amazing."
After taking Faith to an animal behaviorist and a neurologist, Mayes likens the storms the dog faces to post-traumatic stress syndrome. With patience, Mayes has given the Boxer the attention, love and time she needs to improve.
After a year of seeing Faith work to overcome emotional obstacles, Mayes anticipates a bittersweet heartbreak when she succeeds in finding Faith a new home. Sometimes Mayes is asked, since she is madly in love with the Boxer, why Faith can't just call the Mayes' family home hers to stay.
"My husband and I have said that if we could choose one dog to run away with, it would be Faith. But I know that we can't give her the perfect home she deserves, because of our commitment to Pugs," Mayes says. "Faith needs a lot of one-on-one time in a one-dog family. We may have several special needs Pugs here at any time, awaiting adoption, and they also need time and attention. We commit to these dogs for life, if needed, but Faith deserves more. She is so beautiful and amazing."
Mayes is committed to finding the right home, but not just any home.
"Faith has given back to me twofold," Mayes says. "I could never give her as much as she's given me. Faith has made me a better rescuer. If she could teach one person that this is the outcome of a dog that is saved, maybe the word can get out to everyone that dogs are worth saving."
With tearful joy, Mayes thinks of a hopeful future for Faith. "I want to be the bridge for her," she says. "I know the perfect home will come. It always does and, when it does, it will have been worth the wait.
"I know one day I'll have to say 'goodbye,' but we always say 'The gift is in the goodbye.' Then I'll know I've done my job. It'll hurt, but it'll be a good hurt. Every day, I see her looking back at me with such gratefulness, such understanding. In my view, Faith is a perfect dog."
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