Hi everyone,

A few days ago, I saw a plea on Nextdoor to “Save Joey,” a small injured dog at the Contra Costa Animal Services who was to be euthanized the next day. Her sad face and eyes spoke to me, and I couldn’t ignore it.

The next day, my son and I went and got her, despite the fact that the shelter said she was “aggressive, defensive, snarling, biting, hard to handle” and has a leg that is broken in two places.

She was so terrified when we first saw her that we didn’t even try to pet her, but we took her home anyway. Her medical status as far as the broken bones and any other health issues was completely unknown. What was clear to the naked eye, though, was that she was literally starving to death. She looks like a Holocaust survivor.

When we got home, it took her a couple of hours to come out of her crate on her own, but once she did, she could clearly understand that she was finally safe. She gently accepted a few pieces of sliced chicken while wagging her little tail and slowly crawled into my son and my arms with complete and total gratitude. We decided to rename her “JoJo.”

The following day, we brought her to our vet (Fairfax Veterinary in Marin). They x-rayed her leg and told us that it has not healed at all and is still broken in two places, and also that she is positive for heartworm.

They put a splint on her leg, and we have to go back every 5 to 7 days for 4 to 6 weeks to change the splint. She will have to be sedated for all of these visits because she is so terrified of anyone touching the broken leg. After that time, we will see if the bones are healing; if not, she will have to have surgery or have it amputated. The heartworm treatment is intensive as well, requiring multiple vet visits with sedation and injection.

We are totally committed to saving JoJo and giving her a forever home. This poor little girl has been through way too much in her short life. She needs proper medical attention and love. We will be extremely grateful for any donations that can be made to help with her medical bills. She has already been soaking up as much love as possible and is so grateful. She would have died the very next day, alone and injured.

Thank you in advance for your help. We are excited to give you updates and share her recovery.