It was nearly two months ago that staff at the London Humane Society found an abandoned dog tied outside their building suffering from severe injuries.
But there is finally some good news, as Gracie the dog has now made a complete recovery and is ready for her forever home.
Just in time to enjoy the spring-like weather, Gracie can easily run and play outside.
But that wasn't the case in early March when Gracie was abandoned, with open wounds on her nose and neck, and what looked like chemical burns on her belly.
Judy Foster, executive director of the London Humane Society, says "She was in so much pain - she couldn't even walk - so we've gone from that situation to a dog where's she's happy and she's healthy and she's bouncing around."
It wasn't an easy recovery, Gracie underwent several medical treatments and was the focus of a lot of staff attention to help get her to this point - all of which comes with a cost.
"The amount of staff time that was contributed - and drugs and surgeries and special vet visits and all those kinds of things...she hadn't been spayed - all those things together, we're saying [cost] around $3,000," Foster says.
Foster says monetary donations were made towards Gracie's bills, but she isn't the only animal at the shelter in need of expensive care
The humane society says there have been more emergency surrenders in the past several months than ever before.
In fact, on Tuesday morning, five puppies were dumped outside the shelter.
The puppies are believed to be six weeks old and are in good condition, but without knowing their history it's unclear how much medical care they will need before adoption.
"They are too young to vaccinate yet so they're going to go in quarantine here at the humane society and then we will have to wait about two weeks until they are old enough to vaccinate," says Matt Truesdale of the London Humane Society.
The puppies will also have to be spayed or neutered before being placed up for adoption.
Still the humane society is hoping for a happy ending just like Gracie's story.
If you are interesting in adopting from the humane society you can visit their website: www.londonhumanesociety.ca/ for more information, but potential adopters are encouraged to visit in person.
