In 2009, an animal shelter where I do volunteer work rescued approximately 300 dogs from a puppy mill. Kept on two smallholdings in horrible conditions and left to breed indiscriminately – some for many years.

They received no medical care, had no blankets or food bowls, were never groomed or socialized, and were scared of all humans. They were fed dead chickens (feathers on) and cow intestines. Most were sick and many had to be euthanized. It was heartbreaking and fortunately resulted in a huge public outcry.

We found Kayla in an old kitchen cabinet with her 7 newborn puppies, all very scared and neglected. She stole my heart, love at first sight. I immediately decided to adopt her. We had to wait 8 weeks for her puppies to be weaned and she had to be sterilized. I visited her regularly, took special treats and toys, gave her lots of love and hugs.

On May 5, 2009, this shy and scared little girl came home with me, and what a day!! She didn’t know how to eat from a bowl, would not take anything from my hand, and did not eat or drink for two days. She crawled under a bush whenever I took her outside. But she slowly relaxed and learned so many new things.

Now she is a confident, active and happy little dog and fortunately very healthy. She is mischievous and playful and great with our other dogs (three Yorkies and one Scottie) and loves everyone.

What an amazing lesson for all humans to learn from a little dog: Love, respect, and caring can change the whole world, and to be able to trust and love again after being so mistreated! We would never be able to survive without dogs and will always adopt in the future. Kayla is our little angel.

Story submitted by Petro, from Pretoria, South Africa.