Mary didn’t understand anything.
She only knew that her owner was no longer there and that the man walking her on the leash was very sad.
The red-eyed man was the deported person’s nephew; he just repeated over and over: “she is a very good dog”, as if he needed someone else to confirm it before letting her go. In Florida, Mary’s owner was deported, and no one was left who could take care of her. So they left her at a shelter, confused, wagging her tail, searching among the unfamiliar faces for the only face she knew.
No one came for her that day. But someone did come later: Animal Farm Foundation got her out of there and gave her time, something Mary had never had in abundance. Little by little, the real dog emerged from behind the fear: playful, affectionate, a peanut butter fanatic.
Chelsea Domaleski, from the foundation, summed it up this way: “Dogs like Mary get caught in the middle, still loving, still being loyal, still deserving a future”. Today Mary is waiting for a permanent home. She will never forget her first dad, but at last someone is waiting for her.