Asha was a very special hound to me. When she came in to the rescue, she was terrified of being handled. She would actually scream if you approached her too fast, or touched her. She would just lean against the wall, shivering. I made it a point to gain her trust and try to socialize her again. It took hours and hours of work slowly gaining her trust before she would let me pet her. And she was so nervous and tense. She was still terrified. I kept at it every free moment I had. After a time, she would trust me more and more.

Eventually she was socialized enough she could go and have her vetting done and be spayed. That morning was the last I saw of her - I found out later that day she had passed away in surgery. It was absolutely soul crushing. I never really recovered. I am not religious, but having worked so much in animal rescue, I sure do wish there was a heaven for all the tortured animals I have seen. That would make the pain of working in rescue so much easier to bear.