Willie - Our 1st Dog of Christmas

2025 HOLIDAY MATCHING FUND

"12 Dogs of Christmas - Willie"

We are so happy to announce our first Dog of Christmas of 2025, Willie.  If angels hadn't intervened on his behalf, we wouldn't have been able to announce Willie at all.  

Willie and his brother were found wandering in a remote mountainous area of San Diego, an area where dogs don't normally find themselves. We don't know who put them there or why. What we do know is that they are both lucky to be alive today, especially Willie. 

No water, no food, in a land where coyote packs hunted night and day for prey, Willie and his brother could have easily never made it back to civilization. Fortunately, someone alerted animal control, and they were able to get them before it was too late. 

In the shelter now, they were very lucky to be alive and safe, but was it really safe? Willie's brother, a gorgeous boy, was adopted right away. While that was a really good day for his brother, that was the day that Willie, after surviving what must have been the scariest time in his life, lost his lifeline, his brother. Willie wasn't as gorgeous as his brother. He wasn't as confident as his brother. Willie's face was missing fur. His body had sparse fur. His skin smelled so badly, even with a bath, and he was so underweight. Willie was still in a scary place, but now he was alone. 

At the shelter, Willie was diagnosed with Demodex, a horrible skin condition that could have easily been treated if his owners had noticed it earlier, and it wouldn't have gotten so bad. All he needed was one pill and time to heal. They hadn't noticed, though, or maybe they did and chose not to. Without that treatment, the skin condition grew worse when he and his brother were alone. As they tried to survive, Willie’s immune system went down more and more as the days went by.    

In the shelter, with treatment, Willie's skin condition began to improve. Fur started to grow back. But Willie continued to decline. Each day in the shelter, he lost more and more weight.  After 14 days in the shelter, the taff knew he wouldn't survive there. There was no family waiting for a dog like him. They knew Willie needed help, a rescue.

The angels had been with Willie all this time, and we weren't going to let him or them down. As soon as we got the call, we said yes. When he joined us, he had such a bad kennel cough that he had to be in the quarantine area of the kennel. He was so frightened. 

It was impossible not to notice that humans had let him down, and while he would never hurt anyone, he was far from trusting them. He was so afraid that he stayed in the corner of his kennel, scared to go outside, no matter how much we tried to coax him. Willie didn't notice at first, though, that he wasn't alone. He had an angel in the kennel beside him, an angel with four legs. He was a patient angel, and when Willie lay against the kennel between the two, his new buddy didn't mind that he was close enough to touch. When his new friend went to his outside run, Willie followed behind in his own run. And when his new friend was seen soaking up the rays of the sun, Willie was lying in his own run, pressed against the chain link, close enough to touch his friend, soaking up his own sunshine. Willie didn't trust people, but he trusted his friend.

Over the days and weeks that Willie has been in our care, we have been working with him to earn his trust, and he is slowly learning that some humans are okay. He has been walking with the volunteers and with other dogs. He is such a joy to watch as he feels more at home.

Willie is healing now, and he is turning into the gorgeous dog we know he will soon be. His scars won't be on the outside, and we don't know what will be on the inside from the experience he has endured and survived, but we are hoping that maybe, just maybe there's a family out there for Willie, a family that can help him open his suitcase when he gets home and no matter what baggage is inside, his family will let him know, "Willie, let us carry that for you. You are safe now. You are safe forever."

Had Willie not had a brother and angels watching out for him, we well may have never met him. We are so grateful for them, and we are so grateful for the angels who have made it possible for us to have the 2025 Holiday Matching Fund. From now until January 1, 2026, each dollar you donate up to $65,000 will be matched. 

Please help us reach our goal. Every dollar makes a difference for dogs like Willie. Your donation makes it possible for us to continue giving them the care they need. It helps provide food and shelter for Willie and others like him. Please donate if you can. 

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