Rescue dogs can be some of the sweetest, most loving dogs out there. Many of them come from rough beginnings, so when they're brought in by a caring family, they know exactly how to express their love and appreciation.
Christi Camblor knows this all too well: she is the co-founder of an organization called Compassion Without Borders, which rescues street dogs in Mexico.
Christi has seen her fair share of run-down street doggies while working with rescue dogs, but when she saw a German shepherd sleeping on a pile of trash, she immediately knew she had to help.
The dog was starving, and after looking at him, Christi realized he probably wouldn't survive another week.
"He was on this pile of trash," Christi told The Dodo, "but he was trying to find a little comfortable space, so he was on this little torn-up cushion."
Once she got out of the car and saw the dog up close, Christi knew her organization could help him.
[H/T: The Dodo]
Upon spotting this German shepherd lying on a pile of trash in Mexico, Christi decided she needed to help him.
There was a market near the pile of trash, so Christi went to ask the locals about the dog before she tried to approach him.
"They said that he was indeed homeless, and he'd been there for about a month, and that he was blind," Christi said. "Everyone in the area knew him as the old, blind dog who lived in the trash pile."
After she had some basic information about the dog, Christi wanted to see how the dog would react to her presence.
She explained, "I didn't want to startle him because I knew he couldn't see. But the moment I knelt down next to him, he was so friendly."
Christi spent several minutes trying to help the dog get comfortable with her — she wanted him to trust that she was only there to help.
"He responded really nicely to me petting him and touching him. I offered him some food, and he immediately ate it — he was voracious," she said.
Once Christi thought the dog trusted her, she put him in the back of her van and drove him to the organization's nearby vet clinic.
The dog, who they later named Don Felipe, was weak and lethargic because of his starvation.
He was also anemic and had bad arthritis and an autoimmune condition that had been a part in making Don Felipe blind.
After spending a month in the rescue center in Mexico, Christi moved Don Felipe to the organization's primary rescue center in California.
There, Don Felipe continued to gain strength and even recovered some of his vision.
The organization set up an adoption video for Don Felipe, and a woman in Boston happened upon it one day.
Once the Boston woman saw Don Felipe, she knew she had to have him. She was completely in love.
They organized for the dog to be flown to Boston, and he'll be leaving the shelter in a few weeks. Until then, he's enjoying his time at the rescue center.
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