'Best Friends' Takes Bocci

One of Ervin Zimmerman's puppymill dogs ( I think I posted about this kennel last year) has been accepted by "Best Friends" in Utah-

link to article: http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/235068

Quote:

Bocci, a tiny black-and-white Chihuahua, was confined for years in one of the county's more notorious commercial breeding kennels, owned by a man convicted of animal cruelty and dog-law violations for its filthy, dangerous conditions.

She was one of nearly 100 dogs seized over a year's time from Ervin Zimmerman's Ephrata kennel at 400 W. Metzler Road. Bocci didn't even have a name when she landed at Humane League of Lancaster County a year ago.

In fact, she might have been in the worst shape of any dog in that batch of seized breeder dogs. Her ears cut jagged silhouettes where chunks had been torn off. Her back was spotted with deep gashes.

More than a year after being rescued, she still quakes with fear around people. She only eats alone in the safety of night. She loses her bowels when she's held by even the gentlest hands at her foster home, where she has lived for four months.

As a last-ditch effort, a League employee requested placement for Bocci at Utah's Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a no-kill shelter specializing in hard-to-place, hard-luck animals a step away from being euthanized.

The timing was right — a spot had just opened. And it was Bocci's hard-knock life that earned her a coveted spot at Best Friends, which receives 2,000 requests a month for homes for hard-to-place animals, including birds, goats, cats, dogs, horses, rabbits and ducks.

"We have a record of working with puppy-mill dogs and helping them overcome their fears and problems," said Best Friends' media strategist Barbara Williamson said. "Bocci is one of the lucky ones. She's done her time in hell, and our caregivers will give her everything she needs to overcome her issues."