Puerto Rico Dogs Find Forever Home
AMAZING STORY OF RESCUE, RECONNECTION AND LOTS OF DOGGIE LOVE
Pearl, previously Pearla, waiting for her snack in the pantry
There are several dog rescues in Puerto Rico with hundreds of dogs and Big Dog Ranch Rescue is their largest and most involved outlet for these dogs. When you adopt a dog from Puerto Rico it makes space for us to save more!
Amanda Lippman, Big Dog Ranch Rescue volunteer, partner, and adopter tells her amazing story of finding her best friend!
"I was introduced to Big Dog Ranch Rescue about 4 years ago. My client, Tito's Handmade Vodka, is a partner of theirs. The program that I executed for them involved highlighting rescue dogs on our website (I work for radio stations), and we helped promote dogs that are ready for adoption. I had no idea at that time how involved I would become and how a flight filled with rescue dogs from Puerto Rico would change my life.
A few years after I began volunteering and just after moving into a new house, I lost my 14-year-old blind Maltese, Gracie. I knew when she took her last breath in my boyfriend's arms, she was leaving me with her sign of approval. She gave me the best 14 years ever. She was with me through everything and saved me more times than I saved her and believe me, I have the vet bills to prove she was a second mortgage.
When she passed, a friend started a fundraiser in Gracie's honor and the funds went to Big Dog Ranch. Gracie was so loved that she raised $3,400! As fate would have it, that SAME week my best friend, Jaime, went to volunteer at BDRR. There was a new flight of dogs that just came in from Puerto Rico and on that flight was my soon to be new baby, Pearla. A Maltese/mix was placed in quarantine at the rescue and Jaime happened to walk her that day. Skinny, scared, quiet and calm are the words I used to describe this sweet girl when I saw pictures. Beautiful side-note: Jaime was the one who took my Gracie girl to get cremated and has been my saving grace for so many things over the past five years. So, it is only fair that I listened to her and trusted that this lil’ Pearla had to be mine. I did have my reservations. Was it too soon? It had only been a week since Gracie passed, but Jaime kept saying,
"She is so sweet and no one else has even seen her! Just come to the rescue to meet her."
During this time, Jaime posted pictures of Pearla on Facebook. The woman who rescued her from Puerto Rico and sent her to BDRR, Laila, noticed her in the tagged pictures, and started asking if that was Pearla! I had been wondering what this little white angel's story was. Is it even safe to have a dog come from another country? Would she understand English - haha?! Then, this woman in Puerto Rico messaged me and filled me up with enough information to know I wanted to be a part of Pearla’s life. Laila found Pearla in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico in a shopping center. She sent me pictures of how she found her and that's when I knew. I couldn't get to pick her up fast enough. Now we even have each other's phone numbers and I am able to privately donate to her rescue.
I told my boyfriend we would just foster her and then told him (more quietly) that they just pulled all her teeth. He wasn't thrilled and said, "Why am I going to take in a dog who can’t even eat, and if she has no teeth- she must not be healthy." I got all the medical records and she was perfect! Aside from being sunburned and left stranded. I did some research and found it was actually easier to have a dog with little/no teeth - no dental work saves money, and they eat soft food perfectly!
Fast forward to now, Pearl is at a hefty weight, sleeps ALL day and ALL night, loves steak, eggs, rice, cheese, vanilla ice-cream and is living the life of a princess. Actually, she may be a Queen. She runs our house!! Just a few days ago I went back to Big Dog Ranch Rescue and took home another sweet old lady who was found by the SAME woman who found Pearl!"
-Amanda Lippman
Big Dog Ranch Rescue volunteer and life-long adopter!
