๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐จ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐จ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ.
That was the case for one dog whose face was taken up by an untreatable illness โ but just when hope seemed lost, some people realized this dog still had plenty of life in her.
Serenity is a husky with a massive, invasive tumor, which spread from her nasal cavity to her eye sockets and skull.
โItโs basically taken away the bones of her face,โ Patti Dawson, president of Dallas Dog Rescue Rehab Reform, told WFAA.
The tumor was able to grow to that size because it was untreated for so long: Serenity was a street dog with no one to care for her.
That is, until she was rescued by Patti Dawson and her non-profit. Serenity was just the kind of dog they look out for: โThe unwanted. The ones that are more difficult,โ Patti explained. โThose are kind of what our forte is.โ
Still, with a tumor of that size, Serenity was an extreme case. It would be natural to assume she was a lost causeโฆ but after one meeting, Patti knew this dogโs story wasnโt over.
โShe gets up, leans in with this huge tumor and does this bump to me, like dogs do the bump, and kissed my face,โ she told WFAA.
โAt that point, I knew we were going to fight to the death to do what we could to save her because she had the life left in her.โ
After picking her up from the shelter in San Antonio, Patti took Serenity to an oncologist. She got the unfortunate news that nothing could be done about the dogโs tumor.
However, despite the appearance, it doesnโt have that much impact on Serenityโs quality of life: she can still see, breathe and eat.
โShe is so sweet and has so much life inside her,โ Patti said. โWe didnโt get the news we wanted, but that doesnโt mean weโre going to stop loving her and giving her the life she deserves.โ
She needed to find a way to make the world see Serenityโs inner beautyโฆ so she contacted photographer Renee Dowhaniuk to take photos of the dog.
In contrast to the many โsadโ photos of dogs in need, Reneeโs photos captured how happy and loving Serenity was.
โI donโt believe you should take a sad picture,โ Renee told WFAA. โI believe you should take a picture of the full potential and do everything you can to capture the spirit of the animal.โ
โAs soon as we lifted her out of Pattiโs vehicle and set her down, that nose was working and the tail was wagging.โ
The plan worked: the beautiful portraits went viral, and hundreds of people reached out to Patti with words of support for Serenity. Many sent in care packages with toys and treats.
Patti is currently taking care of Serenity as her foster mom, and says she will continue to make her life as special as possible as long as she can.
โWith a little bit of care, these dogs can come back to life,โ Patti said. โSheโs still in amazing spirits.โ
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