Maggie, an abandoned, emaciated dog gets adopted: A SUCCESS STORY

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An emaciated stray, Yorkshire terrier-mix named Maggie wasn’t the best version of herself when she was turned into the pound in April.

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She weighed a mere 7.5 pounds, her fur was severely matted and she yelped a lot.

“We didn’t know if it was just trauma or if it was something painful,” said Johanna Booth, chief veterinarian at Toronto Animal Services.

“We eventually found an awesome foster family. And (Maggie) bonded very tightly with the mom,” she added. “They had her for two months and during that time they really loved her. They noted she was super affectionate, but she had food guarding issues (that caused growling).”

Around six years old, she also wasn’t good with other dogs, meaning the foster family couldn’t keep her because they had their own pooch.

Flash forward several months and the once sad looking canine nows weighs between 11-13 pounds  and was adopted in mid-July.

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“She ultimately ended up in a place that was a perfect fit for her,” said Booth

New owner Mary-Anne Draffin saids she and Maggie bonded from the very beginning in her Newmarket home that has no kids or other dogs.

“She’d had such a rough go that they really wanted to place her in the right home,” said Draffin, who chose Maggie after putting down her last dog.

“When it comes to training, firm but kind, and love is better than treats. They thrive off praise and love.”

Draffin added there was “a lot of fear in her from being starving,” and Maggie still gets “a little bit barky” around other dogs, but she feels it was her only defence in the ravine where she was abandoned and later found at Spadina Ave. and Dundas St. W.

“Little by little now, she’s getting better,” said Draffin. “It just takes a little bit more patience.”

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Booth was thrilled about Maggie’s successful adoption story, given city animal shelters are currently bursting at the seams.

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“We’re currently trying to empty our shelters because we are just overwhelmed with the amount of dogs that we have,” said Booth, adding an adoption campaign which just ended saw 81 animals adopted in the last week for free.

“There’s been a real shift pre-COVID to now with what we deal with, with dog intake. There’s a lot of people who adopted during COVID didn’t end up keeping them. We’ve never seen dogs at these numbers.”

People can adopt pets through the city’s website, toronto.ca.

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