Hi. My name is China. I want to tell you a little bit about how the Michigan Animal Rescue League changed and saved my life. I’m a long winded dog on the subject of MARL so please bear with me…this story is good.

I remember the day my owner surrendered me to the shelter. I was barely 8 weeks old. I had no idea what was happening to me and I was pretty scared. That’s a picture of me in a kennel.

All I knew for sure is the people at MARL welcomed me with lots of kisses and ear scratching. It just so happens that the day I came to MARL, there was a volunteer named Lori who was also there. The minute she saw me she held me on her lap for like an hour and promised me that everything would be ok. She told me that MARL would take good care of me until I found my forever home.

You see, MARL doesn’t euthanize for space, so I had a good and safe “home” until I found my forever home. I was able to take the time I needed to adjust to my new surroundings.

This is a picture of me and Lori. Don’t we look good together? You can see why I tried to convince her to take me home with her.

I knew I felt a special bond with Lori right away. She told me that she also felt that special bond with me, but she already had three dogs and just couldn’t take another one home right now. But she promised me that she would find my forever home, no matter how long it would take.

Well, the days turned to months and the months turned into years. Because so many kind people donated to MARL I was able to stay and grow up at the shelter. The staff and volunteers were like my family. On the days that Lori would volunteer I would wiggle so hard that everyone would start laughing. Lori would tell people that we were going on our “dinner date” and she would take me to our special spot and I would have a can of food for dinner.

Lori would talk to me about how special I was and how she thought of me all the time. She would promise me that she was still trying to find my forever home for me and that she would always love me.

I know some people might think that dogs can’t understand people but what I understood was that I was loved and that gave me the comfort and security that I needed.

Although Lori would always write cute stories about me in the MARL newsletter, I guess I didn’t always make it easy for myself to get adopted. I was your typical medium-sized, brown dog. You know - the ones that are constantly over-looked at shelters. Although the people at MARL knew I was special, I just couldn’t convince any potential families to even look at me. Look at how cute I am…but still, nobody wanted to take me home.

Then one day in December of 2008, everything changed for me. One of the MARL volunteers was walking me and discovered a large mass underneath my chin. I was taken to the vet to get the mass biopsied. The vet told the MARL staff that things didn’t look good and that he needed to do surgery to get a better biopsy from my bone and the mass.

Once again, because of generous donations to MARL, I was able to have the surgery I needed. After all, I was part of the MARL family and they would do whatever it took to keep me healthy.

After my surgery I needed to stay in a foster home to recover. None other than my best friend Lori showed up to take me home. She knew it would be difficult with her two other dogs but she took a chance on me and brought me home.

This is where my Cinderella story gets good. I loved my new home with Lori. I’ve never been part of a pack of dogs before so it was really cool for me to have my sisters to play with. They were very generous in sharing all their toys and showing me the ropes around the house and outside in the fenced-in yard.

One of my favorite places to lie is on one of the beds near the front window. Check out the pictures of my sweet digs.

So… finally the results of my surgery came in. To everyone’s surprise, the mass was benign! Lori said the news was the best Christmas gift she could have received. We are both very thankful for all the donations that were made to MARL which allowed them to take care of me like that. Without them, I’m not sure what my fate would have been.

It took four years, but Lori kept her promise and I finally have a forever home. By a twist of fate, I ended up right where I wanted to be.

Lori decided to officially adopt me and now I have a great big family. I have two dog sisters and a mom and dad and a little boy named Jack who just adores me!

So that’s how it goes at MARL…they take care of us and help us stay healthy, happy and comfortable with people and then when our time does come to go to a forever home we’re ready. I am proof that the quality of “the wait” for a forever family makes all the difference.

This is where my story ends but there are many more stories at the shelter that are just beginning. Check out the adoptable dogs and cats on the website or visit the shelter. If you can’t adopt right now consider making a donation so other animals can have great care while they wait for their forever home.

Lori with China, Nala and Kiara