Dogs deserve all the love in the world. Sadly, some humans show no regard for humanity and abandon their dogs when they don’t want to take care of them. Ashley was facing the same plight before she got rescued.
The couple with whom Ashley, a Pit Bull, lived did not take any care of her. She was starving and on the brink of a life-threatening situation when they abandoned her. Erica Mahnken, the co-founder of No More Pain Rescue saved Ashley from that place with her fiancé, Michael Favor in the January of 2016.
Erica narrated the event, “We got a phone call from somebody that there was a couple living in an abandoned house. They had no heat or electricity, and they had a dog there.” A snowstorm hit the area, and the couple left. “I guess they went to find somewhere warm to stay, and they had left the dog behind,” she continued. “So as soon as we got the phone call, we ran and got her.”
Michael went into the house to bring Ashley as his fiancée waited in the car. “There was no electricity in the house – it was freezing. No food, no water for her. The house was a disaster. The windows were broken, and there was feces all over the place,” said Erica, while describing the sorry state of Ashley’s residence.
But Ashley was far from distraught when they found her. “She came running down, super happy,” Mahnken exclaimed. “She jumped straight into my car.” But her health required immediate attention because she was severely malnourished. “All you saw were her ribs – she was so skinny. And the vet later said she was 25 pounds underweight.”
The poor dog also had cigarette burns on her head.
Another problem was that No More Pain Rescue does not have a shelter, so they had to find a foster home right away. Thankfully, Erica and Michael were friends with some people at the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). They figured that since that fire station used to have a dog, Ashley could live with them until she finds a new family. The deal was struck, and Ashley had no problems with it whatsoever.
“As soon as she walked into the firehouse, her tail was wagging, and she was licking and greeting everybody,” Mahnken said. “She was super happy. From where she came from, you wouldn’t really expect that. You would think that she’d be a little skittish, but she wasn’t at all.”
It was not even a surprise, though, when the Fire Department called them a few days later and asked if they could keep Ashley permanently.
“They said, ‘We’re going to adopt her. We just love her so much. She is at home here,'” Erica said. “So I was thrilled. And as soon as I walked her in there, I knew that that’s where she belonged.”
“She’s constantly on the go – she goes on smaller runs with them, she goes on the fire truck with them,” Erica remarked. “They walk her about 30 times a day. They bring her on the roof to play. She’s constantly in the kitchen watching them eat. She has endless supplies of treats. She has the life over there.”
“I’m so glad we got her into a home that will show her nothing but love, and not make her into the pit bull that people love to hate so quickly,” Mahnken added, emotionally. “It was an unbelievable feeling to know that that’s where she belonged.”
Make sure you follow Ashley on her Instagram and stay tuned for the adventures she goes on in her new-found life!
