It started with a single text message: “There’s a dog eating rocks in the alley behind the El Cajon laundromat.” When our Animal Alliance of San Diego team arrived, we found an emaciated boxer mix—later named Bell—licking concrete where someone had spilled carne asada grease weeks earlier. Her collar had grown into her neck, leaving a festering wound.

What happened next surprised everyone.

The Unlikely Rescue Squad

As we prepared to transport Bell, a crowd gathered:

• Ms. Ruiz from the laundromat brought warm towels

• Tony, a homeless vet, donated his last beef jerky

• The Gonzalez kids set up a lemonade stand to help pay her bills
  Within hours, our clinic voicemail was full—“How’s the rock-eating dog?” became the neighborhood greeting.

The Diagnosis That Changed Everything

Bell’s medical exam revealed:

• Embedded collar requiring surgery (now her signature zigzag scar)

• Advanced heartworm (from years without prevention)

• PTSD symptoms (flinched at brooms—likely abused)
  But her bloodwork also showed something shocking: pregnancy.

From Trash Alley to Family Life

Foster mom Jasmine (a nurse who saw Bell’s story on Nextdoor) transformed her bathroom into a whelping suite. On Christmas Eve, Bell delivered:

• 4 healthy puppies (now all adopted)

• 1 stillborn (Jasmine buried him with a handwritten note)

• 1 runt (“Tiny Bell”) who needed tube feeding

Today, Bell:
✓ Works as Jasmine’s hospital therapy dog
✓ Has her own “Bell’s Dinner Club” (neighbors take turns walking her)
✓ Still steals socks (but now donates them to homeless outreach)

Why This Story Resonates

• Shows how one animal can activate a whole community

• Proves street dogs often make the most empathetic therapy animals

• Your $50 donation provides:
  • 1 emergency collar removal
  • 2 weeks of heartworm treatment
  • Food for a litter of puppies

Continue the Chain of Compassion