Dog Dumped on New Year’s Eve, She Won’t Leave Her Blanket Thinking Family Will Return

A new year can offer the perfect opportunity to clear out the clutter and start fresh. But tragically, for one family in Dallas, Texas, their end-of-year discards included the family dog.

The poor, terrified creature was left out on the street with nothing but her old, tattered blanket and a look of dejection. Marina Tarashevska found the dog in this state on New Year’s Day, 2019, the day after the dog’s family left her behind. Mercifully, this passerby stopped and gave the suffering pup her full attention; Tarashevska is the co-founder of Dallas DogRRR, a rescue initiative for dogs in need.

It was cold and wet, as Dallas tends to be in the dead of winter. “The dog was lying on her blanket,” Patti Dawson, executive director of Dallas DogRRR, later regaled to The Dodo. “She wouldn’t leave it.” Dawson suspected that the dog thought her previous owners would come back for her, but her sad vigil implied more resignation than hope.

Tarashevska chatted with her neighbors, trying to ascertain the dog’s story before making attempts to befriend the terrified animal. Try as she might, every time she pulled the blanket closer, the dog would run away. But interestingly, she always came back. After 60 minutes of edging the blanket incrementally closer to her own backyard, Tarashevska had both the blanket and the unwitting dog within easy reach.

The dog was transferred to a kennel, but she “basically curled up into a ball in the back of the crate,” Dawson explained. The poor dog was frozen in fear. The dog was named Camilla by her rescuers, and Dallas DogRRR eventually got close enough to the pit bull Terrier mix to notice that she had open wounds on her neck and ears. It was imperative that Camilla saw a vet sooner rather than later.

The vet visit was illuminating. Camilla’s wounds were likely either caused by an embedded collar, indicating a cold and comfortless life outdoors, or a fight with another dog after she was dumped outside. “There’re lots of stray animals out there,” Dawson said, “and so maybe they got into a scuffle over food.”

After surgery and with her physical scars well and truly on the mend, it was time for Camilla’s mental scars to heal. Camilla’s personality finally had space to shine through. “She’s doing great,” Dawson said. “She’s starting to trust.”

Camilla’s story quickly earned her a loving foster home, and the “new Camilla” is barely recognizable.

“Now she’s sitting up and you can see a different look on her face,” Dawson said. “She’s starting to snuggle,” she continued, happily, “and she’ll nose-butt your hand to get you to pet her.”

The sweet dog that was left out with the trash finally has the courage to seek the love and attention she needs, and that’s a triumph.

The rescue team has no idea what Camilla went through before they found her. “It’s going to take time for her to realize that she’s in a safe environment,” Dawson shared. “But she’s slowly coming around.”

Sweet Camilla is now looking for her forever home, and Dallas DogRRR is doing everything they can to help her find it. After being treated like trash, Camilla deserves to become someone’s precious treasure.