This 3-Legged Stray Had Been Sleeping On A Shoebox For 5 Months Before Rescuers Got A Tip-off

Image: YouTube/Hope For Paws – Official Rescue Channel

As if the life of a stray wasn’t hard enough, this little pooch had it even tougher. You see, when she was abandoned, the poor dog settled down on a discarded shoebox in someone’s yard. But she also faced the hardship of living a life on the streets with only three limbs.

It took months for the stray, a Chihuahua, to be brought to the attention of animal rescuers. The organization in question was Hope For Paws, a non-profit group from Beverly Hills, California. A text message it received spurred its staff into action.

The message, from a concerned citizen, came through on Hope For Paws’ emergency line. It said that the dog had apparently been living homeless in the Compton area for at least five months. Consequently, Paws speculated that she must have been abandoned.

So Eldad Hagar, one of the founders of Hope For Paws, set out with colleague Loreta Frankonyte to investigate. Apparently, the dog had been sleeping on an old shoebox in front of someone’s house. And when the rescue team arrived, that someone was there to greet them.

“Before Loreta and I even spotted her, we saw a man on the street,” Hagar wrote on his Flickr account. “He pointed us to where we might find [the dog].” Due to his help, it was only a matter of seconds before they spotted the stray.

But the man had been more important to the tiny dog than the Hope For Paws team first realized. In fact, it was thanks to him that she was still alive. Since she’d been staying there, the man had been feeding her so that she didn’t starve.

“The homeowner told us that the dog had showed up a few weeks prior,” the captions on Hope For Paws’ YouTube video described. Hagar’s Flickr account went on to describe how she got there, explaining, “This tiny girl managed to pass through the gate into someone’s yard.”

Furthermore, the poor pooch had made her bed on an old, damp discarded shoebox in the homeowner’s yard. Presumably, it was softer than the cold, hard ground that she’d been used to.

“Loreta opened the gate quietly, and [the dog] just looked at us,” Hagar’s Flickr visual journal described. “I knew she was not going to resist… she knew she needed help.” In fact, she put up no resistance to Hope For Paws’ signature lucky leash.

“Loreta placed my Lucky Leash around [her], and then we could see that she was missing her front left leg,” Hagar wrote. She was also shivering, although that could have been due to the weather. Without shelter, the stray was exposed to the chill and rain.

Additionally, her life on the streets had resulted in the homeless hound being a living banquet for fleas and ticks. Indeed, she was riddled with parasites. But all of that was about to change, and she was given a name to symbolize her shift in fortune.

“Loreta named her Princess and promised her she would be treated like royalty going forward,” the YouTube rescue video informed. And that began as soon as her majesty’s rescuers got her to the car; she was swaddled in soft cloth as the trio headed to the vet.

Frankonyte was true to her word, and Princess was treated accordingly. That being the case, the Chihuahua needed to look like her royal namesake. So, for perhaps the first time in her life, she was treated to what Hagar called the “special spa treatment.”

As a consequence of her life on the streets, Princess had dirt and grime caked to her fur. Needless to say, that wouldn’t have been appropriate for one of her standing. It was only fitting, then, that she was treated to a warm bubble bath.

After Princess was dried in a suitably fluffy towel, she was taken for her medical check-up with the vet. Despite the windfall of fortune that came with her rescue, though, the Chihuahua’s past was still on her heels. And she still wasn’t out of the woods yet.

“Her doctor told us that Princess was actually quite sick,” the rescue video informed. “She suffered from severe anemia.” Anemia in dogs can be contracted in several ways. For example, it can be transferred from tick bites or caused by flea infestations.

The condition is the result of a low level of red blood cells in the dog’s body, potentially starving their organs of oxygen. Consequently, chronic cases like the one Princess was suffering from can be deadly. She needed treatment right away.

“She had to remain hospitalized for several weeks while receiving her treatment,” a Hope For Paws employee wrote on its Facebook page. But it was good news for Princess, and she was successfully treated. After her recovery period, she was ready to find a forever home to pamper her.

“Princess loves being adored and she is now ready for her forever home… and a kingdom to call her own,” Hope For Paws’ rescue video reported. Until then, she is not without her loyal subjects. After all, Smooch Pooch Dog Rescue currently provides her a foster home.

Thanks to Hope For Paws, though, little Princess has been given another chance at life. However, at the time of writing, she still needs a permanent home. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before she finds a human who will treat her like royalty.