Big Girl

Break out the tissues, people, because this adoption is a tear-jerker!! If you’ve been following RHS for a while, the name Big Girl is probably familiar to you. While driving on a rural highway in late 2015, Dana Huffman saw a skinny pitbull running loose; Dana called, “come here, big girl” and just like that, Big Girl found herself rescued. And did she ever need rescuing – she was heartworm positive, had parasites, was underweight, wasn’t spayed (and had clearly had way too many litters already) and was limping. Dana and RHS got her healed up, fed properly and spayed, and set out to find her a home. But Big Girl didn’t really like other dogs so it wasn’t easy. Large pitbulls who aren’t dog-friendly need special places to fit in. Even fostering was a challenge; she spent her entire time with RHS in boarding although she was loved, doted on and spoiled by Dana and the Big Girl volunteer team. She also spent time at Dana’s office where she would eventually meet Carol. And after 560 days in rescue, Carol and Big Girl decided they belonged together and BG was adopted in early 2017. And life was so good that Big Girl, the dog who didn’t like other dogs, became BFFs with Ellie, the dog next door! But then in 2021, Carol became ill and passed away. Carol’s neighbor, Jenna, (Ellie’s mom) helped care for Big Girl during Carol’s illness and kindly took her in full time after Carol’s death so BG didn’t have to go back to boarding. She offered to adopt Big Girl but Carol’s estate had to legally surrender Big Girl back to RHS first. It took nearly a year to get everything settled and Jenna has been patiently loving and caring for Big Girl all the while. But it finally happened; the legal details were handled and Big Girl was adopted last night for the second time by a family who loves and understands how special she is. Congratulations, Big Girl! We’re so happy that you were lucky enough to find love twice!