Tossed into a ditch because he was defective, this adorable little guy defied the odds and his life has totally turned around. He was named Sunny because in spite of all this adversity he remained happy and playful. Read his complete story below.

Sunny was found abandoned in a drainage ditch in a rural area of Arizona. Likely thrown away because someone wouldn’t be able to sell him and make money. Somehow , he didn’t get washed away, nor eaten and was found by a kind person who brought him to a nearby gas station where they agreed to help find a home for him. A wonderful person who was just buying a sandwich saw him, heard his story and said she would help him.

Thanks to her – he came to us at Southern AZ Golden Retriever Rescue. She had already taken him to a vet who had pronounced him blind and knew that he would need special care. Would we take him? Of course – that is what we do. We assured her if there was anything that could be done to help him – it would happen.

Fortunately one of our emergency fosters is a vet as is her husband and they took him in. Although able to eat on his own, he was too young to be without his mother and littermates, and being unable to see just compounded the problems for this poor baby.

After a couple weeks, he went to a dedicated foster who had an old mama dog who would cuddle and nurture him. And we happened to have a litter of pups almost the same age who he had playdates with, increasing his socialization with pups his own age and size. Everything was falling into place for him.

Then he had his appointment with a veterinary eye specialist. We learned that there was a surgery that could be done, but first he had to pass a test to make sure it would be successful. And he passed the test. Then he had the surgery – and NOW he can SEE. No not great, but good distance vision and some close although blurry.

This little guy has beaten the odds, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. He is the one who did the fighting to survive, and he deserved all we could do. However, surgeries, specialists and ongoing medical care are expensive. Please help us to be able to continue giving little Sunny the best care possible as well as replenish our funds so we can say, "Yes, absolutely," to the next dog in need.