It was a year ago now that our family dog passed away after nearly 16 years with us, and given that’s still more than half my life, it’s hard not to feel a bit upset when I think about her even now. She brought a lot of joy into my life, and was always a good friend. 

So when a rescue video of a dog found in a trash pile by Hope for Paws went viral on YouTube, it hit me pretty hard. It didn’t help that, with the patches of fur missing, she also bore a resemblance to the dog I lost, and the photo above in particular shook me a bit. Fortunately, the dog, now dubbed Miley, has been getting fantastic care and has recovered from her unfortunate circumstances.

I always jokingly referred to my mother as Dr. Doolittle due to her way with animals (she was always the one that the bird never bit in the exhibit at Busch Gardens; she was the one the hamsters always tolerated, not me), but for me, with dogs in particular, I’ve inherited that, so these videos are both inspiring and heartbreaking for me to watch. It’s great to see them so happy at the end, but it’s also so hard to watch them struggle at the beginning.

Millions of people have watched some of the videos; I hope that the important work the nonprofit is doing in them is being supported by them.  There’s a lot of charities and nonprofits competing for hard-earned dollars (I should know; I help run one of them and have a fundraiser coming up), but I think this one’s earned my vote for a donation.