From Willow's foster parents:

We rescued sweet Willow when she was only 2 weeks old, she was less than a pound, cold to the touch and you could feel almost every bone in her little body. She was living in filth with 19 other dogs, a horse, a pig and several chickens in a small trailer on a ½ acre piece of property on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I’ve personally never seen anything like it before in my life.

The backyard breeder who had her was just letting her die…. She had too many animals to give her the care and attention she needed to survive. Willow’s mom had accidentally nipped her in the face, causing swelling and damage to her nose making it difficult for her to nurse. I insisted on taking her….. I wasn’t sure she would survive the 5-hour drive back to our home, but I knew if she stayed there she would certainly not make it. For several weeks we feed her with a baby bottle every hour even through the night until she slowly put on weight and got stronger. We celebrate each milestone that she reaches… from opening her eyes to taking her first steps to now eating puppy kibble. We didn’t really have any idea what we were doing but with the help of our vet she pulled through. Sometimes I can’t believe she is now a happy 16-pound puppy but her journey to live a normal life despite the difficult situation she came from, isn’t over yet.

Because of the damage sustained to her face, her nose is twisted and she can only breathe through one nostril. This leaves her susceptible still to aspirating, which can be deadly, and she tires easily. We desperately want Willow to be able to live a happy and normal life. She recently had a consultation with a surgeon who said she is a candidate for surgery to correct the damage to her lip and re-align her nose so she can breathe from both nostrils again. However, the surgery is extremely costly and also requires a CT scan. If you have it in your heart to donate to her surgery fund we would greatly appreciate it.