Sick, Hairless Shelter Puppy Just Needed One Person To Care About Her


A sick, hairless puppy sat at a county shelter in Jacksonville, North Carolina, awaiting euthanasia set for the very next day. All she needed was one person to care about her and she’d get another chance at life. And when Heather Blazina saw the five-month-old pit bull mix, that’s exactly what happened.


With a background in medicine and surgery from the military, Heather could tell the dog was very sick and that her time was growing short. So she contacted Adoption First Animal Rescue for help. She said if they could pull the pup out of the shelter, she’d foster and vet her.

The rescue agreed, and Heather named the puppy Amaani. The first step was to try to treat her mange, but for some reason Amaani did not respond to the medication. It would turn out that a vet would diagnose the poor pup with distemper.


Distemper is a serious viral disease that attacks the immune system and is often fatal. Heather refused to give up on Amaani and worked with the vet to make her better. It took a lot of work and care, but Amaani was able to pull through!

Amaani started showing signs of life on July 4th, and it gave everyone hope. The pup has definitely lived up to the name “Amaani” which means: hope, aspirations, wishes, and desires.

Her fur started growing back once she beat the distemper, but the disease has likely stunted her growth. According to one vet, Amaani isn’t going to get much bigger.

Heather is fostering Amaani along with her 10 other dogs, and the pup absolutely loves it! She gets along with all of them really well, but she doesn’t have any interest in the cats. 😉

Amaani is enjoying living a normal life as a puppy and loves playing outside and soaking up all of the love and attention she can get. 🙂

Still to this day, Heather is amazed that Amaani’s spirit never shut down. Considering everything the poor pup had gone through, that could’ve very well been the case. She came to Heather with a 105-degree fever and fought through that among all of her other issues.

The plan is for Amaani to stay with Heather for a little while longer, and then she’ll be looking for a forever home. She believes the best home for the dog would be one with other dogs and older children, possibly someone who is home most of the day.

Amaani looks completely different today, and it’s all because Heather fought to give the sweet pit mix another chance.

Once she’s put up for adoption, you can contact Adoption First Animal Rescue if you’re interested in giving her a loving home.

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