Thanks in large part to our groundbreaking new partnership with the New York City Police Department (NYPD), the ASPCA is caring for more canine cruelty victims than ever before. To accommodate the resulting 200%+ increase in intake, we opened our Canine Annex for Recovery & Enrichment, or CARE ward, last summer in New York City. This new facility can house up to 60 dogs seized by the NYPD as part of animal cruelty investigations, and its impact thus far has been significant. To commemorate CARE’s upcoming anniversary, we wanted to share one of its very first success stories. Here is the Happy Tail of a five-year-old Boston Terrier named Chowda.

In June 2014, Chowda was seized by the NYPD from an apartment building in the Bronx, New York. Emaciated and suffering from skin disease, she weighed just 13 lbs. upon her arrival at the ASPCA. Bite wounds covered her body. Tests revealed abnormally low levels of protein in her blood, further proof that she had been deprived of proper nutrition. 

Chowda spent four months recuperating in the ASPCA Animal Hospital and at the CARE annex. She was spayed and underwent a dental procedure, during which four teeth were extracted. By early September, she had gained 10 lbs.—a nearly 41% increase in body weight. 

On the day before Halloween, Chowda was adopted by Diana A. and her husband Chris of Brooklyn, New York. Chowda joined Diana and Chris’s other dog, Meisha, a two-year-old pit bull who had also been adopted from the ASPCA. Chowda and Meisha became friends immediately. “People ask us if we’ve had them together from birth,” says Diana. “We call them sisters; they are an awesome duo.” 

After adopting Meisha, who came from a hoarding case, Diana and Chris decided to add a second, more confident and energetic dog to their household, and Chowda fit the bill perfectly.

According to Diana, Chowda loves to cuddle, sit on people’s laps, and “kiss everyone to death.” She and Meisha are inseparable.

Despite what Chowda’s been through, “she is resilient, forgiving, and loving,” says Diana.

On occasion, Diana takes Chowda to her office, where the perky-eared pooch has already “stolen everyone's hearts.”

“She is such an amazing soul, I can't imagine how anyone could harm her,” says Diana. “Thanks to everyone at the ASPCA who helps improve the lives of these wonderful beings.”