Puppy-Mill Survivors Teddy and Harley Are on a Rescue Mission

The two Chihuahuas are spokesdogs for National Mill Dog Rescue.

Teddy and Harley are two Chihuahuas who were rescued from separate puppy mills, but their stories are all too familiar. Confined to wire cages with hardly enough food and water to survive, the two Chihuahuas endured lives of misery. They were used to breed litter after litter, without a single concern for their physical or emotional well-beings.

Finally, at the age of seven, Teddy was rescued by the National Mill Dog Rescue and transferred to Lily's Haven in Colorado, from which he was adopted into a loving home. Teddy's former puppy-mill days manifest themselves in the dog's missing teeth, uneven hips, and torn ears, but his spirit is intact.

Harley, however, fared worse. The older dog was given three months to live after being pulled from a puppy mill by Because of You Chihuahua Rescue. He is missing an eye and had to have most of his teeth removed as a result of them going bad from negligence, his tail is broken, and his heart is bad. His spirit, however, remains undaunted.

Not only have Teddy and Harley recovered, they are now leading a charge against puppy mills. Instead of wallowing in the injustices of their past lives, the two little survivors have become the spokesdogs for National Mill Dog Rescue, and they are heading a campaign called Harley to the Rescue to raise funds to send the organization on another puppy-mill rescue.

For many, the effort of survival consumes all their energy, but for Teddy and Harley, it was the beginning of a mission to help others just like them. It takes a very special spirit to be able to return to such horrors, but Teddy and Harley can't seem to be able to rest until puppy mills vanish. Now that's a Monday Miracle.

Click here to find out how you can donate to Harley to the Rescue, and make sure to pass this on -- news this good deserves to be shared with everyone!

Photos via Teddy's and Harley's respective Facebook pages, where you can also stay up to date on what the two dogs are doing.

Read about other miraculous dogs on Dogster:

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Feeney is a big teddy bear

Sunday evening, we had dinner with friends at their home. The ulterior motive was a play date. Our friends asked us to bring Cami and Harry over to meet Feeney, their 3 year-old Bernese Mountain Dog.

Even though I hadn’t yet met Feeney, I was a little nervous. I’ve met lots of Berners, and if Feeney was anything like the norm, he might be in trouble. Harry’s perfectly reasonable, but Cami, as I’ve mentioned, is a true alpha, and she doesn’t care if she’s a guest in someone else’s home. She’ll get in anyone’s face.

We had a wonderful evening with our friends, though Cami snarled at Feeney a couple dozen times. Poor Feeney was such a sweet, gentle teddy bear, he just looked confused. “What did I do wrong?” He’s a gentle, lovable little guy. Well, not so little. At 120 pounds, he’s the size of six Harrys. And I’m smitten.

Meanwhile, I spent a good chunk of the visit paying attention to Feeney to distract him from the tiny punky girl who kept taking his toys. As you’d expect, we became buddies. At times I’d stop petting him and he’d reach out and put his paw on my hand, to make it clear I wasn’t done yet. And let me tell you, Feeney’s paws are enormous. We’ll keep scheduling play dates until the three dogs become friends. We hope Cami’s more mellow the next time, but no matter what, I have a new friend. Just look at that face. How could you resist?

Photo credit: Feeney, Phil Knudsen

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