Valerie was my Valentine Day catch. I caught her travel mate the night before.  As the story goes, she was surviving on Memorial Drive for quite some time and ended up hanging out near the church on S. Indian Creek and Rockbridge Road. People noticed the pair and would leave food but they were tough to catch. I saw a post on Nextdoor from a neighbor near there who was trying to catch them. We caught the male dog Saturday evening and  then I spent the entire day Sunday working on the female, now named Valerie. It was a tremendous effort and a long and tiresome day but I went home with the trophy. Valerie was exhausted and scared and slept solidly through the night. I felt something wasn't right with her but thought Id let her decompress for a few days. I had to carry her outside to use the bathroom because she was too lethargic to walk and her appetite slowed to none.  My regular vet couldn't see us on Monday. Then again they were too busy for any walk ins on Tuesday, so I made the decision to bring her to the emergency room Tuesday morning. The prognosis was not good. Her red cell blood count was 6%.  She was incredibly anemic and needed an immediate blood transfusion along with other testings. To make a long story short, she accepted the transfusion and is now being closely monitored. Her blood count did go up to 27% which is incredible. Hopefully her body will continue to accept the blood and not fight against it. She is eating now and on medications. Please contribute what you can to Valerie's medical bills so that we can take care of this girl as a community. Good news is she is Heartworm Negative! She eventually will need a foster and then forever home. She is learning what it is like to be loved and inside a warm home where she can be goofy  and playful. Thank you, Amy and Valerie