With the holiday season upon us and the year winding down, we’re casting a look back at the most notable, newsworthy, and lovable dogs we wrote about on Dogster in 2014. It’s a little tribute we like to call the 12 Dogs of Christmas — and today we revisit the story of a plucky puppy-mill escapee.
6. Stan the Yorkie
Stan the Yorkshire Terrier spent the first eight years of his life effectively in prison.
Locked up inside a puppy mill in Missouri, he was known only as number 193, with the three digits tattooed on his left ear. Worse still, he caught an eye infection after being poked in the eye while there and had to have it removed.
Luckily, Stan’s life turned around when he was deemed surplus to requirements at the mill and came into the life of Olivia Matheson, a warmhearted 16-year-old girl from Boston who was at the time also battling an infection in the hospital. In a move to raise her spirits, Olivia’s mom allowed her the opportunity to adopt a dog — and she picked Stan.
“She said, ‘I want to rescue a dog,'” recalled her mom, Alicia Matheson, when we showcased Stan in our Monday Miracle column back in August. “Olivia went online and began looking at rescues. She wanted to find the dog who needed our help most.”
Since then, Stan has been slowly acclimatizing to his new and safe world. At first, he would prefer to stay cooped up in his own little lot of personal space under a desk in the kitchen. But he’s slowly and surely been taking baby steps and now even seeks out affection from his new family.
He also lives with a Norfolk Terrier named Buster, and his relationship to his adopted sibling is progressing well. They can often be caught napping in sunbeams next to each other in photos posted on their Facebook page.
Additionally, Stan is becoming more comfortable about other foster animals who may pass through his forever home — including a cheeky chap called Jack who snuck in a quick canine kiss before trotting off to his new abode!
Enjoy the other 12 Dogs of Christmas:
- 12. Little Miss Lexi
- 11. Jonny Justice
- 10. Winter the Blind Pit Bull
- 9. Jimmy Choo the Instagram Sensation
- 8. London the Two-Legged Pit Bull
- 7. Uncle Samsung
- 6. Stan the Puppy Mill Survivor
- 5. Jefferson the World Cup Dog
- 4. Braveheart the Pittie, Rescued from a Storage Unit
- 3. Roo, Tripod Pit Bull Who Escaped Dog Fighting
- 2. Chica-Chan the Blind Chihuahua
- 1. Monkie the One-Eyed Pug
About Phillip Mlynar: The self-appointed world’s foremost expert on rappers’ cats. When not penning posts on rap music, he can be found building DIY cat towers for his adopted domestic shorthair, Mimosa, and collecting Le Creuset cookware (in red). He has also invented cat sushi, but it’s not quite what you think it is.
