The Dog We Lost

Not every rescue story gets a clean, beautiful arc. Some dogs are simply too hurt, too starved, or too exhausted by the time they reach the shelter. And even though our team tries everything, sometimes their bodies have already decided long before their spirits have.

We lost two this month.

If you follow our socials closely, you might have seen that our shelter took in a lot of new rescues recently. Most of them came from another no-kill shelter that had to shut down for reasons I won’t get into right now. The dogs had been malnourished for a long time, and two of them were simply too sick.

These moments never get easier. But they’re real. And they’re part of rescue work — the part we don’t show on Instagram.

As you might remember, our partner shelter actually has a small graveyard in the back for the dogs who pass, and Sister Ling sometimes brings back unfortunate pups who have been hit on the road, giving them a proper place to rest. Last year, our local Buddhist temple donated a set of speakers that play sutras all day long, and we placed them around the graveyard, hoping the dogs can finally rest in peace.

Your support doesn’t just save the dogs who survive. It gives comfort to the ones who fight their last fight in safety instead of fear. And for a dog who spent his life unseen, that matters more than you know.

Thank you for caring about all of them — the ones who make it, and the ones who sadly, softly don’t.