See this face? This is Gremlin, aka Gremmy. You may not be able to tell just by looking, but he is a survivor … a survivor of horrible abuse and neglect that he endured for years. My husband and I are long-term volunteers for NMDR and because of that, Theresa Strader, the organization’s founder, agreed to let us foster Gremmy … that was in September of 2014 … but his rescue story began in May 2014 when Gremmy arrived at the NMDR facility, Lily’s Haven.
Gremmy is one of the worst cases of abuse that NMDR has seen and the second worst case the animal hospital had ever seen. When Gremmy first arrived the volunteers were under strict orders to not touch him. We were advised that only authorized personnel and members of the rehabilitation team were allowed to handle him – for his safety as well as ours – as they did not want him to regress in his rehabilitation. He arrived with a broken and wired jaw, which had to be monitored, and he was placed in a kennel run, by himself, right up front.
Gremmy quickly became a kennel favorite. Many of the volunteers fell in love with him right away – it was hard not to. How could you not fall in love with six pounds of scared, traumatized Shih Tzu, with sad, but hopeful eyes? Videos and pictures of his progress would be posted on National Mill Dog Rescue’s Volunteer Group. One in particular of a Rehab Team Member rubbing his belly and him crying/talking, really pulled on my heartstrings! This one had my husband and I both in tears. Who could hurt such a darling little guy?
VIDEO!
