This is Hazel. She's a 17 weeks old German Shepherd and was rescued from an abusive situation. Her life leading up to the moment we took her in has been traumatic, to say the least. About a month ago, an 81-year-old gentleman saw a group of homeless guys kicking this sweet girl around. One of the men kicked her in the stomach with everything he had before continuing the abuse. The 81-year-old rescuer walked up to the group, unsure of what they would do to him for interfering, and he offered the man $100 for the dog. The man agreed and took the money.

The old gentleman who rescued sweet Hazel took her in and housed her while he searched for a forever home. We were lucky enough to have seen the story on Facebook and messaged his daughter about the puppy. The next morning, we went to meet her, and our family fell in love.

Hazel is blind in her left eye due to the abuse she had endured.

This is what the Ophthalmologist wrote in her medical notes: Hazel's eye exam was consistent with a corneal perforation of the central cornea that has a fibrin clot in place. The cornea is very fragile and at risk for perforating at any time. Another concern is developing an infection of the site of the perforation and/or the inside of the eye. The appearance of her eye and cornea is suggestive of a chronic perforation that will result in a poor long-term prognosis for vision. Given the concern for recurrent perforation and infection, enucleation is recommended, which can be done at any time as long as she is a good candidate for surgery. Ideally, enucleation could be performed at the time of spay to reduce her number of anesthetic events. She should stay on a topical antibiotic as long as she is tolerating it until she can have the eye removed.

This surgery will likely cost me $5,000 to do, and that's not including all of the other medical expenses such as her antibiotics she'll be taking until she's old enough for her spay, which is when I plan to have the enucleation done as recommended.

She deserves so much better than what life has given her thus far, and I'm hell-bent on making sure it happens. Thank you for reading her story and please, if you're unable to donate, I ask that you share!

Let's save Hazel's eye and quality of life!