Happy ending

The ultimate goal of an animal shelter is to find a good home for every animal.

For one boxer, there will be that happy ending.

Tweety is going to her new home today.

The now 20-month-old boxer had a bit of a rough start when she was first brought to the Lenoir County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"She was in the beginning stages of emaciation," Assistant Shelter Manager Mike Westfall said in a previous interview. "Her ribs, hip bones and backbone were starting to protrude. She was dehydrated. There was the rope wound that does encompass the entire neck, (though) the bottom part is worse."

Tweety also suffered from a few behavioral problems - such as cage aggression and mistrust of strangers - stemming from her ordeal. Westfall said she was so skittish when she first came in even the flash of a camera would startle her into biting.

The sweet-faced boxer wagging her stump of a tail at people as they walk by her cage is not the same dog that was brought into the SPCA about 3 months ago.

"Physically, of course, I think she's healed wonderfully," Rescue Coordinator Kris Petrusch said. "Personality wise, she's much more outgoing, playful. The volunteers love to play with her."

Petrusch said Tweety had gained weight, but wasn't sure exactly how much.

"She looks to be at a good weight now," she said.

Much of the credit for Tweety's transformation from "a walking skeleton with a rope embedded in her neck," as Westfall put it - goes to the assistant shelter manager.

"It was just nice watching her transform from an abused, abandoned animal to a wonderful boxer," he said. "...It was something to literally transform from that dog to what she is right now. It's wonderful. It has been a real joy."

Still, the shelter's volunteers helped the boxer along by acclimating her to other people and animals.

"We just had to have people handle her, walk her, spend time with her, get her comfortably with people," Petrusch said.

And now, all that hard work has paid off. Tweety will make her home with a "retired gentleman," Westfall said.

"She's going to a great home where she can be the center of attention," he said.

Even so, the dog Petrusch called the "shelter sweetheart" is very clearly going to be missed when she goes to her new home.

"I just love her so much," Westfall said. "It's going to be sad to see her go."

Vanessa Clarke can be reached at (252) 559-1076 or vclarke@freedomenc.com. Check out Vanessa's blog at http://vclarke.encblogs.com.