This shabby and skinny dog was spotted on the streets of Houston, USA. When a woman saw the horrible condition of the animal, she could not stand it and approached her. She had severe scabies all over her body, which caused her to lose a lot of hair.

The woman contacted a local animal rescuer, Katie Evers, and asked to take the dog to a holding facility. She immediately went out to pick up the poor thing and took her back to her place. The dog was named Gardenia.

“I have become known as the sucker for mange cases,” Evers told The Dodo. “People will send me or tag me in any post about a dog who’s a stray with mange.”
At her foster home, the dog became visibly lively as if she knew she was being helped. The veterinarians diagnosed Gardenia with severe scabies, but she was easy to treat with medication.

“When you pick them up off the street like that, all they want to do is is sleep,” Evers said. “So I got her comfortable and got her to the vet right away.”

“She had tons of mange all over her, as well as secondary infections from the mange because it had clearly been like that for a while,” Evers said. “It was really bad, her whole back was raw.”

Katie gave her dog antibiotics and baths and, after a while, her coat began to grow back. Little by little Gardenia forgot the wounds of the past, became more active and affectionate, and soon she was a different dog.

“She was very timid at first,” Evers said. “She would just kind of be there and hang out — she wouldn’t play, she wouldn’t snuggle.”

When it came time to look for owners for this beautiful dog, Katie’s friends were just looking for a new pet. The couple had been following Gardenia’s story from the beginning and they decided to become her owners. That’s how the doggy got a loving family!
Gardenia’s life will never be the same again. She is a happy dog, surrounded by the attention and love of her owners. Thank you to the kind people who helped this beautiful dog!

“She turned into a goofball,” Evers said. “She loves to pounce, loves to play and she fell in love with my German shepherd.”