When Barbara Zuluaga first saw the picture, her heart sank. The photo showed a tiny puppy with crusty skin and sad eyes. Barbara couldn’t even tell what kind of dog she was.
“I thought she might be a Chihuahua or maybe another small breed,” said Barbara, a board member of A Chance to Bloom Dog Rescue in Houston, Texas. “She was just covered in mange, and it was very hard to tell.”
But this wasn’t a small breed dog. She was a Staffordshire terrier mix, around eight months old. The only reason she looked so tiny was because she was extremely underweight — just 12 pounds when she should’ve been twice that.
The puppy, named Ziva at the time, had come into the BARC Animal Shelter in April after being found chained to a tree on a property in Houston. She was very sick—her body was covered in sores, and her skin had a disease called mange. Her feet were hurt, and the bottom of her paws were rubbed raw.
“This kind of thing happens more often than people think in Houston,” Barbara said sadly. “To be in that condition — with mange and that level of malnourishment — a dog has to be neglected for a very long time.”
Ziva was terrified of everyone. She’d shake when someone held her and couldn’t even make eye contact. But Barbara wasn’t going to leave her behind.
She took Ziva out of the shelter and rushed her to a vet. That’s where Ziva met someone who would change her life—a vet tech named Stephanie Williams. Stephanie bonded instantly with the little dog and didn’t want to say goodbye when it was time for her to leave.
“It broke my heart to think about her leaving, and I wanted to be a part of her recovery,” Stephanie said. "So, I offered to foster her.”
For the next two months, Ziva lived with Stephanie. Slowly but surely, she began to change. She gained weight, her fur started to grow back, and she learned a lot about being a dog.
“She learned how to eat from a bowl, drink water, sleep in a cozy bed, and even jump on the couch,” Stephanie said with a smile. “I’m so proud of her. She really overcame so much.”
As Ziva got healthier, people started to take notice. She was adorable — small, sweet, and gentle. Many people wanted to adopt her. But Barbara knew Ziva still needed someone special — someone who understood her fears and could continue to help her grow. Eventually, Zuluaga found the perfect person.
“A lady wrote to me and said that she heard Ziva’s story and really connected to it,” Zuluaga said. “She’d previously rehabilitated dogs, and we had no doubt that she’d be the perfect adopter.”
Ziva was adopted last weekend and moved to her new home in Fort Worth, Texas. With a new beginning came a new name: Roxy.
“Roxy is doing amazing,” said her new mom, Cassie Rogers. “She follows me everywhere — I’m definitely her mom now.”
“She is starting to play with toys, loves food time and treats, snuggles on the couch with us and sleeps in the bed, gives me kisses, and just wants to run and play with the big dogs,”
“I’m completely in love with her,” Cassie said. “She’s a beautiful soul, and I’m so lucky she’s part of my life now.”
