Kaleeko's Nonsense: raven

This is a bit of an old picture from Christmas, but I never did get around sharing it anywhere:

As a little backstory: the man in the Santa suit runs my town's Local Dog Rescue, and is actually the man who rescued my dog (Raven) from her abusive home.

The lady (couple?) that used to own Raven was mentally handicapped, and unfortunately it meant that they were very neglectful owners. At the time they owned Raven, they also owned another dog, who they tied to a street corner--where it was stabbed to death. Raven was repeatedly left tied to the doorhandle of their home when they left, as well as probably underfed, locked away, and possibly even abused.

With the help of this couple's social worker, Raven was able to be gotten out of the home, but since then they've acquired several more puppies who are currently being underfed, caged, and are--from the sounds of it--hairless and mangy. Unfortunately, the couple dumped their social worker and there is now little hope getting those dogs out before they suffer permanent damage. It saddens me, but at the same time it makes me happy that Raven was rescued when she was.

Raven is overall an incredibly wonderful dog. She does have some problems, such as incredible separation anxiety, which leads to destructive behavior when we're gone--and even self-destructive behavior when kenneled, as she has proven that she's willing to cut herself up trying to escape a kennel. She's also insanely possessive of both toys and people, and has been known to get fiesty if any dog so much as looks at me cutely.

But, overall I'm not sure where I'd be without her. She's been my companion almost since I first moved here, and has kept me company through the lonely hard times I've had neglecting attempting a social life--and she's my first pet, ever! So I probably adore her more than I've adored anything else I've ever owned.