When a woman from Barstow, California, was forced to leave her home at short notice, she packed up her important belongings and threw everything else out with the trash. Tragically, that included her two pet dogs.
Boartfield drove to the intersection and immediately saw the pups, their cage conspicuous against the trash bags, old blankets, and clothes that the tenant had left out for the morning garbage collection. Clearly, their time in the cage, not knowing what was in store for them, had taken its toll on the pups.
“They were both extremely scared,” Boartfield said.
The caring volunteer drove the dogs to Camino Pet Hospital in Irvine, California, where they were swiftly examined. The pair were named “Treasure” and “Catch” by their rescuers, but it quickly became clear to hospital staff that the dogs had a way to go before learning to trust again.
“Catch and Treasure came to us with visibly shaken spirits and broken hearts,” shared Hedy Herold, the rescue coordinator for the hospital. “Treasure was so matted that she couldn’t move without pain,” Herold continued, explaining that the poor dog was so nervous that she snapped at the technicians who were trying to help her.
Catch had a cold and needed to be kept in isolation for treatment. But separating the pair proved problematic at first; the dogs, fiercely protective of one another, were stuck together like peanut butter and jelly. Catch even nipped Boartfield on the hand a few times, desperate to protect his sister.
But the rescuers never gave up. “Catch is very attached to Treasure,” Boartfield explained, with compassion for the little dogs and their huge ordeal. “So attached that, when I moved Treasure into another kennel [...] he ran across my lap to be in the same kennel as Treasure.”
Treasure, with her protective brother firmly on her side, went from strength to strength. She had a bath and had her matted fur neatly trimmed. Then she was spayed, and after making a full recovery from the operation, her true personality had its chance to shine through.
Under all that matted fur had been a ball of love and energy all along. Not to mention, freed from the pain caused by her neglected condition, the little dog was able to move, run, and play to her heart’s content.
“She stands in her cage, which we like to call her ‘bedroom,’ and wiggles and whines until I open the door,” Herold shared. “She even leapt into my arms and covered my face in kisses that made cute little sounds.” Herold got into the habit of cuddling with Treasure before visiting Catch, but Catch needed a little more time to heal than his outgoing sister.
“Some hearts mend more quickly than others,” Herold said. “Nobody is giving up on him!”
How far they have come. One woman’s trash is, quite literally, another’s precious treasure.
