Sophie

When Sophie the poodle-mix first came to us, she was dirty, obese, and terrified. Her nails hadn’t been clipped in many months. She was shut-down and depressed. We couldn’t believe the condition she was in, given the fact that she was likely less than two-years-old! 

After observing her for a couple of days, we were finally able to coax her out of her kennel and walk outside. However, she would often try to run underneath the nearest car or truck she could find, leading us to believe she had spent most of her time there before she came to us. Her oily coat was a further indication of this.

As we bathed her and clipped her coat shorter, we found sticks, barbs and foxtails, two of which had embedded themselves into her leg. These were removed, the wounds cleaned, and her healing process began. 

As the filthy mats fell away and we began to see her spirit emerge, Sophie was taken to the vet to have a physical and be checked for hypothyroidism, a condition that can cause overeating and weight gain. We were delighted to hear that her bloodwork was normal and that her only problem was that “she likes food.” 

But not dog food, mind you. She didn’t touch the kibble or canned food that was given to her daily. This also led us to believe that she was used to human food. Possibly even “junk” food, which was why she was so fat. She was then given chicken and rice which we knew may help her digestion and she was happy to eat

Eventually, FOMAS reached out to a kind woman who we knew had been looking for a small dog. We asked her many questions and told her of Sophie’s condition. “Are you prepared to have this dog groomed regularly?” we asked. She answered, “My daughter is a dog groomer!” This was music to our ears and we took it as a sign of a great situation for Sophie.

Sophie was then adopted, completely shaved, and put on a proper diet by a veterinarian. She goes for walks daily and is thriving in her new home. Her adopters couldn’t love her more! We like to think of Sophie as our “diamond in the ruff.”

Booker

Booker came to use from the animal shelter in Roswell after being pulled off the euthanasia list for the following day. He was extremely thin and unsure of himself. After a few weeks with us, he gained some weight and began to feel more comfortable with the daily routine at MAS.

A wonderful person adopted him, but within a few days realized he had serious separation anxiety. Try as she did to help him feel more comfortable, it proved to be too big of a task for one person to handle alone. Tearfully, she brought him back in the hopes that he might do well with a different living situation.

A few weeks later, a very nice family came to look at another shelter dog. This dog, being very shy, was much more confident when Booker was near him, so we brought Booker out as well. Not surprisingly, the family fell in love with Booker! After a long discussion about his separation issues, they felt confident they could handle it.

Booker was then adopted, and now lives happily with the Burnside family in Albuquerque. He has a particular fondness for their five-year-old daughter, Willow!

Jewel

Jewel originally came into the shelter in Roswell with a very bad mouth wound and then developed severe kennel-cough while sitting in the kennels. She was put on their list for euthanasia, but then we tagged her for rescue and a journey up to Mountainair!

She was scooped up by Friends of Roswell Animals, put on doxycycline, and then brought to us.

Jewel arrived weak and exhausted but seemingly relieved to be out of the shelter situation in Roswell. She was very soon after placed in foster care with our amazing fosters Chuck and Bev, who began the process of helping her slowly recover from whatever traumas she’d endured. After a few days, our initial vet check showed that Jewel had heartworm and would require the three-month very intensive treatment.

No problem for Chuck and Bev. They took her to all her appointments, monitored her carefully after each injection to kills the worms. They kept her calm and quiet for the full three months required for the treatment and nursed her exhausted body back to health.

Enter her new forever family, a young couple with two teenage boys. They’d just recently lost their beloved dog of 14 years, also a rescue. Jewel was adopted the week after Thanksgiving and renamed Bella. We think the named is certainly fitting for this beautiful, loving and strong-willed girl!