“It was like she lost all her beautiful spark for life …”
Mama Gladice arrived at Lancaster Animal Care Center in Southern California with her four puppies with no clues about what her life had been like before. She was found as a stray just trying to take care of her babies, and that’s all anyone knew.
After a week at the shelter, all of the puppies found their forever homes, while Mama Gladice was left behind.
“[Mama] Gladice was always pretty quiet and shy, but once her babies were adopted and she was alone, she seemed pretty different,” Evelyn Garces, a shelter volunteer, told The Dodo. “All I ever saw her do after that was either sleep or lie down. I was never able to see a smile on her face or even a tail wag.”
Mama Gladice couldn’t understand where her puppies had gone and why she wasn’t able to go with them. She was struggling in the shelter environment, and it was hard for the staff and volunteers to watch her decline.
“She just seemed so sad all the time and it was like she lost all her beautiful spark for life,” Garces said. “It was devastating to see her that way.”
With Gladice being shut-down and the shelter being overcrowded, she was suddenly in danger of being put down. Garces and the other volunteers put out an urgent call to the rescue community, looking for someone who could help Mama Gladice, and it didn’t take long for their pleas to pay off.
Promise 4 Paws Rescue pulled Gladice from the shelter and took her into their care. They saved her life, and Garces along with everyone else couldn’t be more grateful to them for saving her life.
Gladice has a few health issues that need addressing, but the rescue will make sure she’s comfortable and loved until the day she finds her forever home.
“I’m sure the rescue will get to know her well and match her with the perfect family,” Garces said.
