It was the coldest night of the year in February 2013 — just a couple of nights before the Academy Awards — and the temperature had dipped below freezing in Lancaster, Calif., just north of Los Angeles.
A man in a suit walked into the animal shelter, placed a small cardboard box on the counter and said, “I’m turning this dog in because he’s old and can’t walk anymore.” The man turned away without further explanation and walked out the door, as his pug’s sad, gray, little face peered out from the box.
The poor dog was a mess — paralyzed back legs, sores on his hindquarters from sitting in his own urine and feces, infested with fleas, raging bladder infection, ear mites, and more health problems than one dog should ever have to suffer. It was apparent that his owner had let the dog’s health deteriorate for months — probably years — and done nothing to get medical attention for his canine.
But it wasn’t this dog’s night to die — not that evening. A kind soul at the shelter alerted Lori Zech-Shaw at Pug Nation Rescue of Los Angeles, who promptly dispatched one of their rescuers to get him out of there. The rescuer took the dog straight to their vet, who issued a cautious prognosis. It wasn’t at all clear whether this pug could be saved or not.
His skin was so ulcerated with urine burns and flea infestations, it was uncertain if his sores could heal. His urinary infection was so bad that they might have to amputate his little penis. The dog had been neglected for a very long time, and now, at 13 years of age, it wasn’t at all clear whether the paraplegic pug could recover — and if he did, what his quality of life would be.