Princess Penelope’s story begins in the fall of 2020, when she was rescued by a local animal shelter. She was found on the side of a road, on an Indian reservation, having just given birth to a litter of puppies.
The shelter volunteers tried to rescue her puppies, but they were all deceased. Penny was extremely weak, emaciated and dehydrated, so the volunteers were able to trap her in a crate and she was brought to the shelter.
The shelter volunteers named her “Maya” and she was examined by a local veterinarian and it was determined that she was approximately three years old, and she had been born feral. She would cower and hide every time a volunteer tried to raise their hand to pet her. It was clear she was petrified of people and had probably never lived inside before. “Maya” had to be kept in a private room because the other dogs and volunteers were frightening to her – she would try to hide anywhere she could.
On the other side of town, I had just said goodbye to my fourth senior rescue, Wilber. I had been rescuing senior dogs for over ten years, and it was only a couple weeks after I lost Wilber that I traveled to the local shelter to see if there were any seniors that needed a home. I was told, when I arrived, that they didn’t have any senior dogs, but they did have a “special needs” dog and they thought because I worked from home, I might be a good fit for her. They brought “Maya” out into the front office. She was in her crate and she looked petrified. The volunteer opened the crate and coaxed her out. She slid along the floor and pressed her face into the wall. I slowly reached out my hand to her, and she timidly sniffed the back of my hand and gave it a little lick. The volunteer was stunned. She said “Maya” had not responded like that with any of the volunteers there and was so thrilled to see “Maya” and I make a connection.
Even though she wasn’t a senior, I brought that sweet girl home that day. Her soft, bronze ears reminded me of the color of pennies and I felt we were lucky to find each other. So, before she arrived at her new home that day, she also had a new name…”Lucky Penny.” Little did I know, the long road we had ahead of us.