12 Days of Happy Tails: Meet Tally!

As the year winds down, we're taking a look back at all of the lives that we’ve saved thanks to your support. It’s another year of 12 Days of Happy Tails — stories that touched the hearts of our staff and volunteers. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we’ve loved all of these special pups.

Brittany Lee-Still is the Foster Programs Coordinator at Muddy Paws and proud adopter of today’s Happy Tail - her perfect pitbull, Tally. In Brittany’s own words, here is Tally’s story:

“Working at Muddy Paws Rescue has its perks, and one of them is being able to see all of our incoming dogs before they arrive. Just days after our last foster was adopted and my husband and I had decided to take a break from fostering, Animal Care Centers of NYC -- New York City's open intake shelter -- reached out to Muddy Paws to ask if we could help them with a dog. She had severe eye damage, a deformed skull from a previous injury, and she'd need to have the injured eye removed before she'd be ready to find her forever family. Despite her medical challenges, her behavior notes made it clear she was a sweet and happy girl. I asked my husband if we could foster just one more time before our break (he doesn't remember saying yes, but I swear he did). Tally arrived just a few days later!

Initially, I had no plans to adopt Tally. We'd had our minds set on adopting a dog that was more like our dog Louka, who has a big personality and lots of energy. But over time, this low-key sweetheart grew on us more and more. She was the perfect foil to Louka - Louka is the dog you hike with, but Tally is the dog you nap with afterward. Always easygoing, she was happy to be included in whatever we were doing, but was also very independent and content to spend time alone. More than anything, I was blown away by what a social butterfly she was. She would greet every human, dog, leaf, and stick she passed on a walk if she could!

Over the course of one month, Tally had her skin infection treated, her eye removed, dental surgery, and received all the medication she needed to get her healthy again--all thanks to Muddy Paws. When it was finally time for her to become available for adoption, I tried to imagine waking up to a home without her in it, and I just couldn't; I knew she had to stay.

After a little more than a year of having Tally in the family, I know for sure that adopting her was the right choice. She's given my husband and I a new companion, Louka a new playmate, and our cat a new subject to rule over. While some things remain the same--she still gives her classic piggy snorts when we scratch the right spot, and jumps for joy when it's time to go on a walk--we're still learning new things together even after all this time. She just recently learned the joys of fetch, and now has a play session with her favorite turtle toy just about every day. She is the ultimate advocate for both rescues and pitbulls, and I hope one day to get her certified to visit sick patients in the hospital. I'm thankful everyday that NYC ACC and Muddy Paws brought her into our lives!”