ECORSE, Mich. – A boxer pitbull mix had been left out in the middle of the deep freeze around Christmas Day. She was curled up in a ball, struggling to stay warm, when rescuers found her in Ecorse near West Jefferson Avenue and West Outer Drive.
She’s well on her road to recovery. The dog goes by Emmy, but others refer to her as a Christmas miracle.
“There’s so many dogs like her, and not all of them are this lucky,” said Lauren Boesen, a board member of P.O.E.T. Animal Rescue in Westland.
Boesen gets emotional talking about how resilient Emmy truly is.
“She’s emaciated, anemic,” Boesen said. “She has hair loss. She has bumps, and she has a broken tail. She’s only about 32 pounds right now, and she should be between 50 and 60 pounds.”
It breaks her heart further to explain the conditions Emmy was left in.
“The morning of Dec. 23, so we had just had a lot of snow,” Boesen said. “It was negative 20-degree wind-chill. The temperature was too. It was really cold. And I don’t know how she survived.”
Someone made a Facebook post, and it got the attention of Friends of the River Rouge Animal Shelter. A volunteer and a kennel attendant went out, picked Emmy up, and took her to the vet. Then, P.O.E.T. Animal Rescue stepped in to find the dog a foster home.
It didn’t take long. Emmy is now Alexandra and Christian Pop’s 25th foster. The Macomb County couple says they picked Emmy up just hours before Christmas Day.
“It’s just sad to think that she’s eight years old approximately, and she’s been living like this her entire life,” said Alexandra Pop. “It’s just heartbreaking to think of what she’s gone through. But, like, she’s just the sweetest girl, and it’s kind of surreal. It just kind of goes to show that it’s not always what the dogs go through. Sometimes it is who they are, their personalities, and they just have so much love to give.”
That love is turning into hope. The community has raised thousands of dollars for P.O.E.T. Animal Rescue to help Emmy.
“She has a story to tell, and we need to listen to her,” Boesen said. “She’s an example of what can happen when so many people come together.”
Boesen hopes Emmy’s story will inspire others to volunteer and donate to help the many other Emmy’s out there and adopt one.
Emmy is on medication and needs to gain weight, get a few teeth removed, and have her tail amputated before she is put up for adoption.