Izzy has been adopted! Her new family picked her up and she even had a furry Beagle brother waiting for her when she got home (who was also a former foster dog of mine).

Her family reports... "She and Harley hit it off better than we expected. He actually got all excited and wanted to play with her in the yard... She is currently sucking on his Kong. But that is only fair -- he jumped right on the new mat we got for her and tried to chew her big Nylabone. Nothing is sacred here! She is doing better than he did on his first day with us. Within about 10 minutes of being in the house -- he peed on my nice oriental rug. She hasn't had an accident yet. We are all going to head to bed early as it has been quite an exciting day."

Congratulations, Izzy! I will certainly miss her, but she is a very lucky girl and found an

After rescuing Izzy (my current foster dog) from living chained outside and neglected, she unfortunately tested positive for Heartworm. It's a tragic blow, but is treatable as long as we caught it quickly enough. Only time will tell.

For the last few weeks Izzy has been waiting. There is currently a shortage of Heartworm medication and we have anxiously been awaiting her name to come up on the waiting list. Today we got the call and she has her first treatment scheduled for Monday, April 5th.

She has a long battle ahead of her. It starts on Monday with an injection into her lower back and the whole process will take a minimum of 2 months. The treatment is often quite painful and is uncomfortable for some time after. Her activity level will need to be very restricted. If she gets too excited and active, it can increase the risk

Izzy is a 3 year old, blind in one eye, adorably sweet Rottweiler/Labrador Retriever mix. She was rescued on a Humane Investigation where she had been living her life chained outside with inadequate shelter, food and water. I took her in as a foster and every day since she has pleasantly surprised me. I have fostered many dogs who had only known life on a chain and there is generally an initial period of helping them get accustomed to living inside a house. For some this is lengthier than others, but they all have been wholeheartedly grateful for the safety and extra attention they receive living inside with people.

With Izzy it has been no different, but I noted from the start that she has a remarkable learning curve. Her main goal in life is to make people happy. She doesn't always know how to do that, but she is determined

On many occasions I have had the opportunity to assist a friend of mine, a fellow Humane Investigator, in checking on the animals in a very hairy part of town on the south side of the city. The streets are lined with dilapidated homes - many burned out or collapsed and prime targets for drug dealers and other such illegal characters. It's the kind of town you usually go out of your way to drive "around" rather than "through" if it happens to fall along your route of travel.

In this town I have seen some of the worst of the worst of animal abuse and neglect cases. Dog fighting is a popular "sport" in the area and the status quo is to keep your dog tied on a heavy chain, provide little to no shelter and give food and water only when it's convenient to do so.

It's here where Izzy was found chained to a fence with only an