Holly is a 9-year-old Treeing Walker Coonhound in West Orange, NJ, who needs $2,185 for surgery to remove a spindle cell tumor.

Nine years ago, Holly, along with her sister, was adopted at the age of 2 months old and then in October 2018, close to 8 years later, only Holly was returned to the shelter where I volunteer.

As a dog who loves being with her humans, she was devastated. She lost weight and was so scared she trembled as she hid in the corner each day. She needed to be put on medication to calm herself down. I don’t know everything about her previous home, but I know enough, and after looking at her snout and face, her current vet asked if she were a bait dog.

Holly stayed in the shelter a little over a month. The day after Thanksgiving, we rode up to the shelter to look at dogs up for adoption. The counselor at the shelter introduced us to two dogs who were cat-friendly and it was there we met Holly. We saw her at the shelter as we looked at potential dogs and she was passed by as she had a skin tag about the size of a large raisin hanging from her chest. She's also an older dog (now 9) and needed a dental cleaning.

We decided to give Holly a chance because while the information in her chart was heart-breaking, her personality was outstanding. She was perfect for our family and tested not interested in cats. On November 23, 2018, we adopted Holly.