For eight long years, Pamela lived in a small, run-down doghouse in her family’s backyard. It wasn’t much, but it was the only home she had ever known. Then one day, even that was taken away.
Pamela’s family was being evicted — and when they prepared to leave, they decided not to take her with them.
“Ever wonder what a dog with a broken heart looks like?” Janine Guido, founder of Speranza Animal Rescue in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, wrote on the rescue’s Facebook page. Alongside her words was a heartbreaking photo of Pamela peeking out from her doghouse. “For eight long years … this is all she has ever known.”
Guido learned about Pamela through a local realtor who feared the dog would be left homeless. When Guido arrived, the man being evicted soon followed. He placed Pamela into Guido’s car, shut the door, and went back inside to gather his belongings.
Pamela was utterly overwhelmed. She curled into herself inside her crate, tail tucked tightly, quietly growling in fear.
“She doesn’t have physical wounds — hers are emotional,” Guido wrote. “And those are the hardest ones to heal.”
Years of living outdoors had taken their toll. Pamela had sores on her body from prolonged exposure to filth and neglect, and she was taken to the vet right away. But it was her fear that worried Guido most.
“When I talk to her, she just shakes,” Guido wrote. “Her whole body trembles. Just the look in her eye breaks my heart.”
Still, Guido has seen even the most traumatized dogs find their way back to trust — and she believed Pamela could, too.
And she was right.
Just days later, something shifted. The dog who had spent her entire life outside began to realize that these sudden changes weren’t something to fear.
Pamela started giving Guido gentle, tentative kisses. After a few quiet walks together, she stayed glued to Guido’s side.
“Every five or ten steps she’d look back at me,” Guido wrote. “Then she’d jump up, wrap her legs around my waist, and kiss my face. Almost like she was saying, ‘I’m OK now.’ Those are the moments you live for.”
Though Pamela is making incredible progress, her rescuers are taking things slowly. After everything she’s endured, she deserves time to feel safe in her own skin before another big transition.
“She’ll be fully vetted and stay with us while we learn all her likes and dislikes,” Guido told The Dodo. “We’re hopeful she’ll be ready for a family soon.”
When that day comes, Pamela will finally get what she’s waited eight years for — a real home, and people who won’t leave her behind.
To learn about adopting Pamela once she’s ready, you can visit Speranza Animal Rescue. Donations to the rescue help save dogs just like her.
