It is a Christmas miracle for a Vancouver family whose beloved 13-year-old Chihuahua, Delilah, went missing from their back yard three years ago. On Dec. 7, the tiny, frail senior dog was brought to the BC SPCA after being found shivering in a box outside a Richmond Trail Appliances store.
“The poor little thing was in horrible condition,” says Emma Michel, assistant manager of the Richmond SPCA. “She was emaciated, dehydrated, she appeared to be partially deaf and blind, she had no teeth, she had suspected frost bite on the ears, and she was anemic.” SPCA staff rushed her to a veterinarian for treatment, and posted her photo on the SPCA Facebook page, hoping someone might know who she belonged to.
“Someone saw our post and remembered that a woman named Mary Kleiner and her family had been looking for their lost Chihuahua nearly three years ago,” says Michel. “When we got an email from Mary saying that the dog in our care might be hers, we were in shock. We asked her to provide us with more information, and we were just praying that this really was her dog.” Once Delilah’s ownership was verified, a reunion was arranged.
“We have no idea how little Delilah ended up in that box, alone and cold, but we were just so thrilled that we could reunite her with her family,” says Michel. “Our whole team was there for the reunion and there were a lot of tears.
Even though her sight and hearing are impaired she crawled out of her bed as soon as she realized that her family was there.” Michel says you could see the joy on the face of every family member who came to bring Delilah home. “She is so sweet and we are just thrilled that Delilah will be spending Christmas at home, safe and warm, and that she will get to live out her last years with the family she knows and loves.”
While Delilah will require ongoing care with her family, her initial medical bills were covered through the generosity of BC SPCA donors.