TRACIE HOTCHNER: PIT BULL WITHOUT EYES FINDS A FOREVER HOME

Recently I received one of those totally feel-good-never-give-up-hope-on-humanity stories (you can read more HERE) that starts off horribly- but winds up with a very happy ending for one roughly treated pit bull.

This is the tale of a woefully unfortunate brown pit bull in Arizona, who was found wandering the side of the road – on his “last legs.” He was limping, with barely the strength to go on, with injuries to his eyes so severe that they were not in his eye sockets.

How he came to be in such terrible condition isn’t known – maybe someone hurt him, maybe other dogs attacked him, but he had certainly been abandoned to a dreadful fate. But instead of bemoaning the “cruelty of man,” let’s concentrate on what we do know, which is that a lot of good people gave this poor fellow a new shot at life.

First, we know that there was a good Samaritan who stopped to help this pittie on the roadside and took him to the Arizona Humane Society.

Then the good folks at the Humane Society determined that his eyes could not be saved so they were surgically removed – but they saved his life in doing so, and named him Ashton.

Then there were the dedicated trainers who worked with Ashton so he could comfortably navigate and manage life without being able to see, with the ultimate “long shot” goal of finding him a Forever Home despite his disability.

And last but not least, there was the family who saw him at Arizona Humane Society and offered Ashton a home and a whole new beginning.

For me, this story is about the resilience of a dog to bounce back from terrible adversity, and the infinite openness of human hearts to embrace a dog regardless of his deficits and help him find his way Home.

Tracie began her fascination with dogs and cats by turning her eye as a former investigative reporter on every aspect of living with them, resulting in her encyclopedic resources THE DOG BIBLE: Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know and then the THE CAT BIBLE: Everything Your Cat Expects You to Know. Before long, Tracie was established as a leading pet wellness advocate as her all-encompassing books covered everything from medical issues to behavior, nutrition and environmental enrichment.

Tracie began her career as a radio personality with a live show – DOG TALK® (and Kitties, Too!) – on the local NPR station in the Hamptons, Peconic Public Broadcasting (WPPB) from Southampton, New York (the show is now also carried on the NPR station Robinhood Radio in Connecticut and the Berkshires). DOG TALK® won a Gracie® Award (the radio equivalent of an Oscar) in 2010 as the “Best entertainment and information program on local public radio” and continues weekly after more than 450 continuous shows and 9 years on the air. Tracie’s live weekly call-in show CAT CHAT® was on SiriusXM satellite radio for seven years until the Martha Stewart channel was canceled in 2013.

Tracie lives in Vermont where the Radio Pet Lady Network studio is based, on 13 acres well-used by her all-girl pack – two lovely, lively Weimaraners, Maisie and Wanda, and a Collie-mix, Jazzy.