An underweight dog named Sassy is regaining her strength after a German Shepherd rescue group saved her from an animal shelter and brought her to a South Florida animal hospital for treatment.
On Monday the 1-year-old German Shepherd struggled to get to her feet – the first time in six days she's been able to do that.
"I didn't think she was going to make it in the condition we first picked her up," said Elissa Powers, who founded Shepherd Help And Rescue Effort Inc.
Sassy's doctor thought the same.
"When she got here she didn't have the strength to lift for her head on her own," said Dr Jennifer Bibevski with Hollywood Animal Hospital.
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Somebody found Sassy last Wednesday, abandoned and wandering the streets of Liberty City. She was grossly underweight and hardly able to walk. The man who found the dog delivered her to Miami-Dade Animal Services in Medley.
Sassy was scheduled to be put down, but members of S.H.A.R.E. swooped in, rescued her from the shelter and brought to the animal hospital.
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"German Shepherds are regal dogs and they love people," Powers said. "And they use them in police work because they’ll take a bullet for their master and their owner, and for someone to do that to such a loyal, loving breed, it hurts.”
Sassy underwent surgery Friday. She has two catheters in her, two feeding tubes and stitches from the surgery that are covered with a yellow belly wrap.
Even now she weighs about 38 pounds – half of what she’s supposed to.
Powers posted sassy's story on her S.H.A.R.E. website, which linked to Facebook. The pooch's story went viral from there.
"Just in the last three days or so she’s made a tremendous turnaround," Bibevski said. "She's up, she's walking, she’s starting to eat on her own and definitely has a will to live.”
What Sassy needs now is a foster home. If you’re interested, head to S.H.A.R.E.’s website, at shepherdhelp.org.
Photo Credit: NBC 6 South Florida