Meet Spooky. The Little Abused Fur Baby Who Saved My Life.

** Please be aware that this story contains reading material about an abused doggy that might be upsetting for some. **

I'm not one to personally talk about my inner struggles or to share the fact that I've suffered from anxiety and depression for quite some time now. A few years ago on what turned out to be one of the worse days of my life it also changed forever. I had gotten laid off from my job and I was in a terrible mental and financial situation. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. It was a dark, cold, and extremely rainy day. Everything was going wrong for me and it was one of those days that I felt like giving up (if you know what I mean). I came home later after my last shift and I was extremely tired and felt defeated. All I wanted to do was go to sleep and never wake up again. I dropped myself on my old couch when I suddenly turned my head towards the kitchen area and I noticed that my garbage was full. Regardless of the weather, I had to take it out. With the little energy I had, I got up grabbed the bag, and made my way towards the dumpster.

Once I reached the dumpster I tossed the bag and turned around but not before I started hearing a low but frantic cry. I stood there for a few seconds thinking it had been my imagination but then I heard it again. Not gonna lie the first thing that cross my mind was

Oh my god. Someone threw a baby in the trash.

I mean sadly it has happened before (and a few weeks back as a matter of fact) I wasn't certain if it was a baby or not but I was sure that there was something ALIVE and crying in there that needed my help right away. I didn't want to call the cops just in case I was wrong. I had heard rumors before around the complex where people had found abandoned kittens and that's what I thought it was. Don't ask how I managed to make it inside the dumpster (yes I know) but I had no choice. I needed to find out what it was, I wasn't about to walk away. I kept moving trash bags, cardboard boxes, and nothing. I wasn't finding anything. Then I heard it again but this time it was coming from behind the bin. I jumped out of the dumpster and headed behind it and the noise kept getting a little louder. At the very corner of it, there was a small bulky bag filled with knots. I reached down to grab it and the bag was within several bags that weighed. Whatever was inside cried louder when I picked it up. I immediately ripped the bag open and sure enough, there was a baby inside. A fur baby that is. He was so small and fragile. He started whimpering as soon as he saw me and when I looked closely I understood why.

He was a tiny min-pin (miniature pinscher) no older than a few weeks or so. Besides someone having the heart to toss him in a dumpster he had obvious signs of abuse. His tail and both his ears were partially cut halfway through. The back of his ears, paws, and part of his little tiny body were charred along with cuts and obvious patches of missing hair all over. The horrific scene was impressionable. I had never seen anything like that in my life. It broke my heart seeing how much pain he was in but more so seeing the tears roll down his eyes. It was truly an inhumane and barbaric act. I had to get him out of there and take him somewhere safe. I was afraid of someone possibly coming back to finish him off. I carried him in my arms, he figured I wasn't gonna hurt him because he laid his head near my chest and that's when I knew that he was gonna change my life.. forever.

It was a long night but we both managed to get thru it. The following day I took him first thing in the morning to the vet to see if there was something they could do to ease his pain and hopefully survive. I knew the cost of the vet bill was probably gonna drain the last of my savings but I honestly didn't care. The most important thing at the moment was him and his health. After the vet was done with him he told me he needed some minor surgery to fix his ears and tail, stitches for the cuts among ointments, antibiotics, and other meds in order for him to survive the ordeal. He mentioned that whoever had done this to him more than likely wanted to raise him for dogfighting purposes or maybe they had used him for bait and left him for dead. The cuts on the ears and the tail were due to a botched in-home "surgery" that often people do in order to make the dog seem more menacing.

I was determined to help him get thru this no matter what. He had become my reason for living as I had become his. There were days that it was a struggle for the both of us but at the end of the day we stuck by each other and we knew that the bond that was developing between us was gonna be everlasting. A few months after the whole ordeal, we both finally received good news. The vet had finally cleared my baby of everything. He was a tiny but fierce doggo that defied all odds and fought with all his might to become the strong pup I knew he was. Taking care of him and nursing him back to health was the most rewarding experience of my life. But in reality, HE was the one who saved me. He gave me a reason to keep on with my life. Just knowing that I was gonna come home to something so little and pure that made me wanna push my issues aside and live to see another day next to him.

Progressively I also reconnected with an old friend of mine who later became my wife and we both gave our Spooky (that's what I named him since it was October and I love all things horror lol) a big brother named Emmett who was also a rescue. So after everything we both went thru, we finally found happiness and they both found their FURever homes. They loved being with one another with the occasional brotherly "brawl" but other than that we became one big happy family. Sadly both of them have passed away since then but I will always be thankful to my Spooky for saving my life. I think about both of them every day but Spooky will always have a special place in my heart.

I love and miss you my Spooky...

“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.” – From an Irish Headstone