Every week, iHeartDogs will feature a new rescue dog in need of a loving forever home. These amazing animals remind us that homeless pets everywhere have extraordinary stories and deserve a second chance.
Meet Bonnie Bessie (aka: BB)!
If you were to meet Bonnie Bessie today, you’d find a happy-go-lucky pooch eager to trade kisses for treats. But Christy Stevens, founder of Hearts Alive Village Rescue in Las Vegas, knows there are secrets behind those soulful brown eyes. It was just six months ago that she met a much different dog on a dreary rain-soaked street.
BB was an obese stray without a name or a safe place to lay her head. Although her past is unknown, she was most likely a backyard breeding dog tossed out when she could no longer produce puppies.
After a dramatic struggle, BB was captured and brought to the HAVLV adoption center. Exhausted and afraid, she growled and glared at her rescuer between fitful bouts of sleep.
Having placed more than 600 animals in new homes over the years, Stevens knew just how to handle the terrified stray. She sat on the floor nearby, making herself a calm, comforting presence as BB acclimated to her new surroundings.
After several hours, something miraculous happened. Stevens choked back tears as she told iHeartDogs:
“All of a sudden she just stood up, lumbered over, and laid her big head in my hands.”
BB had finally found someone she could trust, but her ordeal was far from over. At the vet the next day, she was found to be suffering with skin, eye and ear infections, and weighed in at a morbidly obese 120 pounds. Her blood sugar level was over 600 – dangerously high for a dog (a healthy range is 80 – 120).
Stevens implemented a strict diet and exercise regimen and administered whopping doses of insulin. After several months, BB’s blood sugar stabilized and her weight dropped to a healthy 88 pounds!
Her 32-pound transformation revealed that BB is not a senior as previously thought – she’s only about 4 or 5!
When asked about the ideal home for BB, Stevens said she would do best as the only pet in a home where she can be the center of attention. She walks great on a leash and loves older, well-behaved children.
“Bonnie Bessie enjoys a nice stroll, but mostly she likes to hang out on her bed. She is very smart and highly trainable thanks to her love of treats!”
Stevens has forged a lasting bond with BB, but devoted rescuers like her cannot keep every dog they save. She has work to do, saving Las Vegas’ forgotten pets. She said:
“I am so in love with her that I realize she deserves more attention than I can give her. She deserves to be somebody’s queen.”
Think your home could be the perfect palace for this royal cutie to live out her days? Email info@havlv.com. Check out Hearts Alive Village’s other adoptable dogs and cats here.
Can’t adopt, but want to assist this fabulous rescue with their mission? Click here to find out how you can help!
All images c/o Hearts Alive Village Rescue, Las Vegas
via Whisker Therapy