All the dogs we help are very special, but this little girl really tugged at our heartstrings. Julie Hoffmann and Jo Bell (Paws 4 Peace) brought Chance to our attention last June. She had been discovered in a deplorable condition, dragging a piece of chain. A small rural shelter realized her potential (and her friendliness to cats!), but recognized her desperate need of medical care for her skin condition. Indy Homes for Huskies took Chance and applied to us for funding. Initially, it looked like mange, perhaps caused by a thyroid imbalance. As well, Chance tested positive for heartworms. Her veterinarian was sure that the heartworm condition could be reversed with treatment, and thought that the skin condition might be the result of stress. Because of her appearance, Chance was thought to be an older dog, but a geriatric work-up placed her at about 2-3 years old. Her horrible, matted fur was tended to daily by Reyna, a groomer, who is also Chance's loving foster mom. When Julie saw Chance after Reyna's tender ministrations, she says she almost cried: "Chance now has beautiful strawberry-blond hair covering what used to look like evil acid-burns - her face is still as precious as ever, her legs are woolly, and her tail is starting to fill out. She looks like a different dog until you look into those sweet, soulful eyes! But despite all she's gone through, Chance has maintained her sweet, gentle spirit." She's a beautiful Siberian Husky mix who nuzzles and licks her foster mom's cats! A very special girl who deserves a very special forever home. We were delighted to help with Chance's treatment. The photos really tell the whole story. This is my dog chances story. When I brought her home to be fostered her tail was matted to her back legs and she could barely walk. She was bald on her lower half of her body. What I did was take 3 days to shave the matted areas. I took my time because I didn't want to stress her out. I then bathed her every other day with a medicated shampoo given to me by her loving Vet. After her heartworm condition was treated she was able to grow her hair back by this point she was also balding on her chest. Her black leathery skin then turned to a beautiful pink color with freckles. She went from 48 lbs to 68 lbs. She is very happy now as you can see in her after pictures. When they found her the collar she was wearing was cutting into her neck and had to be cut off. I bought Chance a expensive rhinestone collar, she will never again drag two ends of a chain behind her. I ended up adopting her and love to spoil her rotten. Thank you for letting me enter this contest. I hope to win so you can donate money to the rescue group who introduced me to my princess.