Let me preface this post by saying right now: go get your box of tissues. Don’t argue with me. Just go get them and have them handy. Whether you’re a dog lover or a cat lover it won’t matter. This is a story that will grab you by your heart strings and shake you and make you realize the importance of life, living and compassion.

And now for some disclosure. I’m a member of the Reddit community and I subscribe to many pet related ‘sub-reddits’ (essentially user made and moderated categories/forums). One story that popped out at me back in April was about The Abandoned Dog. It is an ongoing story about Tiffany, a veterinary technician at Wags 2 Whiskers Veterinary Hospital in Montgomery, Texas, and how one fateful day she drove past a severely abused and abandoned dog along the side of the road.

Some dogs end up with the wrong people…and sometimes, those very same dogs end up in the right place at the right time. It was against my genetic build up, my moral code, to continue driving down Calvary Road and not turn around once I’d passed him. If he doesn’t pull through this, he will at least know that someone cared enough to turn around after all the other cars drove right by…

I absolutely could not leave him…absolutely not…even if he doesn’t make it over the hump, he will at least know that someone tried…even if they didn’t succeed. He’ll know that not all people are as horrible as the one’s who left him. Of course, I want him to pull through and find a happy family to live with until he’s an old, old man…but, if it’s not meant to be…then I want him to at least know that he won’t die alone anymore. No puppy deserves that.

I’m not going to lie – when I first read about Tad’s plight (the dog’s new name) I was moved to tears watching the videos and looking at the pictures. Reading about this poor dog’s state wrenched my heart. But trust me, it isn’t all bad. Take the time to go back to the very first post at http://the-abandoned-dog.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html and read forward. It’s a story of compassion, the love and the will to live.

And then prepare to hug your own pets when you’re done.