Sometimes a dog comes into Toronto Animal Services and it's hard to see how it will ever make it back out. Shera was such a dog, so fearful of every new stranger who walked by her and at the same time in such mourning over the absence of her owner who had just passed away that she would try to tear apart everything in her kennel every night - the bedding, the water bowl, the metal door - and in the process injure herself and in the morning, drops of blood everywhere.

There was no previous abuse here. If Shera suffered, it was because she loved too much, as some dogs do, and couldn't bare to be without her owner but this combination of stress around strangers and separation anxiety made it seem unlikely that a suitable person would step forward in time to take her out of the shelter before her anxiety levels reached a point where nothing further could be done.

You always wanted to say, if only someone could see past this to the other side of her because the other side of her was beautiful. Once trust was established - and it didn't take long but it took longer than the cute doggie in the next kennel who wagged its tail and batted its eyes at every passer by - Shera was gently affectionate, attentive, calm. She was a very appreciative companion.

Shera spent several weeks at Toronto Animal Services and over those weeks her stranger stress diminished somewhat. She no longer hid in the back corner of her kennel every time someone walked by but her separation anxiety still manifested itself every night with the destruction of her bedding.

Some of the staff took her home for overnights to see if some of her anxiety was shelter based and they reported back that she was fine with them. No messes, no damage done to the house, no wild behaviour. But they never left her alone by herself in their homes. The test didn't go that far.

For those first several weeks, Shera was held back from general adoption because of her behaviour but now that she was somewhat better, at least around people, she was given a chance. Whoever was interested in her would have everything explained to them, all her issues. Given that there were several other dogs with no such baggage also looking for homes, we all figured she'd be bypassed by most everyone and that she'd be in adoption for weeks if not longer. Separation anxiety and anxiety around strangers have no quick, easy, magic cures (it can be done but requires work and diligence) and life in a shelter is no fairy tale with a guaranteed happily ever after.

It was a surprise then that it was less than a week when a couple came into the shelter and asked to spend time with her. And even more of a surprise when they asked if they could adopt her. All her problems were explained to them but they said their last dog also had similar issues and they were willing to give it a try. One of them was home most of the day anyway so that would be a big help. From what I heard about the interview, it didn't sound like anyone was going to talk them out of taking Shera home. They had spent months looking for their next dog after their old one passed away and they were sure Shera was the one. It sounded like they had seen the other side of her and had already fallen in love.

From friends, newspapers, blogs, facebook, every day I hear about terrible things terrible people have done to their pets. Every day the message is reinforced that people are no good, people are rotten, people are habitually selfish and casually evil. It's too easy to forget that no rescue would ever succeed if this were the only truth about people. People are also decent and kind and generous. People give these abandoned animals second chances. People take these poor souls home and give them warmth and food and show them love and compassion. Rescues only succeed because even though someone may have done a bad deed, someone else steps forward to do a good one.

I have hope that Shera's adoption will succeed. I was in at TAS on Saturday and saw one of the adopters back visiting Shera. Shera won't be ready to go home until Tuesday and her new owner wanted to hang out with her. I saw them together as they passed me, walking side by side, friendship growing, this time goodness prevailing.