Top 10 Happy Tails of 2023: Meet Diego

As 2023 comes to a close, we're taking a look back at all of the lives that we’ve saved thanks to your support. While there are really more than 950 stories we could tell, we've chosen 10 dogs to highlight that include long stays, medical cases, seniors and a newborn puppy. Thank you for making each of these stories possible, and for being part of another amazing year of lifesaving in 2024!

Today’s Happy Tails is about Diego.

We first learned about Diego when he was brought into a vet clinic for owner-requested euthanasia. This isn’t how most stories start when it comes to our pups, but our volunteer vet, Matt, knew that Diego deserved better.

Diego’s condition was less than ideal. He was suffering from painful teeth (he ended up requiring 14 teeth removal extractions), and his allergies were so extreme that his skin was raw from irritation. Diego needed weeks of daily medication, weekly baths, and daily body creams to get him back to health. Soon, he was ready to leave the clinic and be matched with a foster.

When Isabel, one of our most dedicated fosters (she’s helped 46 pups!) heard Diego’s story, she immediately requested to foster Diago. Usually a foster for larger pitties, Diego was out of the norm for Isabel’s foster profile but something about his come-back story spoke to her.

Isabel learned that Diego had a whole lot of love to give. “Diego will sleep wherever I place him!” she says, “He’s my personal little hot water bottle.” Isabel used to joke that quiet little Diego used to haunt her in foster care as he just followed her around her apartment, quietly peering around corners and furniture to keep an eye on her.

“You might even say he haunted his way into my heart!”

In another turn of events for Diego, Isabel messaged our MPR community one morning a selfie of her and Diego with the message “#HappyTails,” which we use to indicate to the team that a dog has been adopted and can be shown to the public as so. Her post was met with a mix of heart reactions and confused faces – was Isabel playing a prank on us? Nope! Within one week of fostering Diego, Isabel decided she needed him forever. “Diego was my 47th foster - I usually foster big pitties and certainly never expected to adopt a small senior with medical issues - but now I can’t imagine my life without him.”

Isabel remarks that adopting a senior dog is extremely special because all of their time together is “bonus time.” Isabel and Diego have found their happiest lives now that they get to spend them together by each other’s sides. Now, with Diego snuggled in his little sweater and tucked safely under her arm, both their tails are wagging in happiness, having found their perfect match in each other.