Dear Reader,

I’m reaching out to you to ask for your support for Houdini. Before I explain our situation, I’d love to share a little about our journey with him.

Saving Houdini

This past spring, my husband and I learned about a dog named Houdini who was under the supervision of Miami-Dade Animal Services and scheduled to be euthanized in less than 24 hours. Barely a year old and full of life, he was also facing immense challenges — an unresponsive leg, an injured jaw, and heartworm. Pet lovers across the area offered thousands to save him, but no one was willing to take on the long and difficult recovery ahead. We couldn’t, in good conscience, let him meet such a tragic fate.

Unwilling to see his life perish we sprung to action and rescued him from the pound with just hours to spare. We weren’t prepared to take in a second dog or the financial responsibility it would bring, but we felt moved to act.

The Road to Recovery

We soon discovered how special Houdini was — kind, playful, loving, goofy, athletic and resilient despite the immense challenges he’s faced. Thanks to the generosity of many kind souls, possibly including yours (if so, God bless you for your help), we raised $8,000 to cover his urgent medical needs (you can visit the previous fundraiser here: https://gofund.me/ae934985a).

Every last dollar — as well as more than a thousand more from our own reserves — was used to amputate his leg to avoid a life-threatening infection, cure his heartworm with expensive shots, get him on the proper vaccine schedule for his long-term health, and overall, give Houdini the life he deserves.

The Challenges That Remain

As we’ve helped him heal and experience the calm, joyous life that had alluded him so far, new challenges have unfortunately arisen. Due to the lingering trauma of the unfortunate circumstances that he experienced before his rescue, Houdini has developed a high level of dog-reactivity, complicating walks to the park and other opportunities for him to experience the world beyond our home. And in what is perhaps a twisted irony, he has also developed severe separation anxiety due to the connection we’ve formed with him, crying loudly the moment we leave our home. This has led to a noise complaint from neighbors and escalated to our condominium management’s attention, complicating our efforts to house him while we coordinate the final steps of his recovery. We’ve considered adopting him ourselves, but unfortunately, it isn’t possible due to the same issue — specifically, his reactivity toward our small dog, Charlie.

These challenges have made us realize that without proper training to address his dog reactivity and separation anxiety, Houdini won’t be adoptable anywhere, including by us. That would put his future at risk and make the months of life-saving efforts on his behalf feel heartbreakingly in vain.

If we had additional thousands to spare, we would happily pour that into funding the training he needs ourselves, just as we’ve funded many other parts of his recovery. We truly need your help.

Completing Houdini’s Recovery and Finding His Forever Home

After consulting with multiple trainers (at least six), the consensus is clear: given his issues and breed mix (primarily German Shepherd, possibly cattle dog or another guard breed), the type of training Houdini needs is intensive, and only provided through a comprehensive boarding program. We have vetted multiple facilities statewide and will select one in accordance to how close we’re able to get to our fundraising goal.

Yet unlike many other dogs who need training, this training will determine his fate: it’s his only chance at adopting the norms and behavior he’ll need to be adoptable. And if he’s not adoptable, he will never have a chance at a normal, safe life — a shot at a stable, loving home.

In a city where fostering and adoption rates are at an all-time low, with the pound already overflowing, we can’t bear to imagine what would happen to him without the training he needs to be adopted. And it would be a tragedy of unspeakable proportions that he came so close to having the life he deserves, to see it escape his grasp in the eleventh hour.

With your help, Houdini can finally have the happy, safe life he deserves. Please, help us finish the job and save Houdini.

With gratitude,

Stephanie and Andy