[Team Chloe]

Rebecca has put together Angel's story.....She asked me to spread it around.

"This is the story of how an Angel came to be. Gina...a 3 year old Blue Nose Pit Bull was found running down the street in South Central Los Angeles and was picked up by the police and brought to the South Central Shelter. Her ears had been cut off with scissors, it appeared she had birthed at least 3 litters of puppies, had a chunk of her tongue missing, bite marks all over her throat, was grossly underweight and had an infected chemical/acid burn on her back almost to the spine. A sure candidate for euthanasia, a woman named Tamika who worked at the shelter could see the gentleness in her eyes and saw the spirit that still remained and decided she would do all she could to see that Gina would live. They sent her to out patient treatment for her back and Tamika spent extra time with Gina proving to co-workers that Gina had NO aggression with animals (including cats) or people. Tamika soon learned that Gina was most alive and filled with spirit when she was licking faces and nibbling ears. For two months Tamika diligently sent emails to all the shelters begging for someone to pull her before it was too late, to no avail. But in the last hour H.E.L.P came to the rescue. Specifically Gina. Yeah...Gina from H.E.L.P went and pulled Gina from the shelter then placed her into a foster home with her first foster mom, named Sandy. Sandy had 3 other dogs and Gina loved them all. After a while Sandy had to give Gina to Kira, another foster mom with an 8 year old dog named Cleatus, who Gina fell MADLY in love with. With access to a huge backyard and her boyfriend by her side...it was running and squirrel chasing that went on all day every day. Then one day, Kira found Gina on the ground and unable to get up. She rushed her to ASEC and they did emergency surgery on her knee (TPLO surgery). A very invasive procedure that usually takes up to 6 months to come back from. Because Gina loved Cleatus and the backyard so much, H.E.L.P thought it would be best if Gina were in a foster home without other animals, so that she could heal and not be tempted to reinjure or injure the other knee.

THIS...is where I come in. On June 12th 2008, my 4 year old Dogo Argentino lost his two month excruciating battle with Kidney Failure. Ironically, June 12th was the exact day Gina had recieved her knee replacement surgery. Although we didn't know each other yet...it goes without saying that....Gina and I were both in pain and trying to do all we could to recover. I found myself propped in front of my computer on Petfinder.com looking for a dog I could foster, as the deafening silence that was now my life without Walter, was almost unbearable. Then...after looking at literally, HUNDREDS of dogs...I saw her. I called and Kira told me her story. A few days later, Kira brought her over. I remember looking at her butchered ears and enormously scarred back and thinking HOW could a human being do that to her. Although her back was now healing, it was still very shocking to see what she had lived through. Two friends and I laid on the floor with her and couldn't believe how kind and gentle she was. She had suffered for her entire life at the hands of monsters and still managed to trust. A true testament to what dogs really stand for. After losing Walter, many people said to me, "he'll be your Angel." I believe that to be true because that Angel came in the form of Gina. Now named Angel, I spent the next 6 months helping her recover, every painful step by painful step. And after overcoming infection, stressful vet revisits and learning to reuse her leg, she and I found ourselves healing together. A journey neither one of us could have done without each other.
Well...7 months later....this Angel is now 60 pounds of pure muscle, confident and happier than ever but on January 18th 2009, I'm sorry to say that Angel was diagnosed with cancer. After having a suspicious lump removed comes the news that Angel has a grade two Mast Cell AND the doctor didn't get wide enough margins around the tumor, so now Angel has to go to a board certified surgeon to get ANOTHER surgery that will be much more invasive, as they have to cut into the muscle. Though this doesn't insure the cancer won't come back...it does lessen the odds to about 20% from 50%. On top of all of this, Angel's other knee now needs to be replaced.
I'm writing this, in hopes that you might donate to a living Angel. The rescue has depleted it funds in order to help out with the last surgery (done on January 13th 2009) and to replace Angel's knee (TPLO surgery June 12th 2008.) Our goal is to raise money to cover the expenses for Angel and the expenses for the other dogs of H.E.L.P.

Please help us give Angel and so many other dogs a chance at a happy healthy life that they absolutely deserve.

*A special thanks to Gina Jacobson who's undying love for animals and dedication to saving them is beyond admirable.

DONATIONS CAN BE MADE AT WWW.REBECCACORRY.COM"