Title: Minka

Artist: Susan Hutchinson

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions: 11x14

Animal depicted is Minka.

The phone rang at Stray Rescue, and a kind woman named Sheila was on the other end. She had just seen a dog dart into an abandoned house, and she looked like she had a horrible wound on her neck and needed help. Our rescue dispatch team sent Donna who headed out and spotted the dog right away. She'd been let down by humans before and was so scared, so she ran off and kept her distance. Although she wouldn't come close, she kept her eye on Donna and listened to her kind, soothing voice.

Eventually, she sat next to a nearby car and shook. We hoped she would take a leap of faith and trust us to help her… Finally in Donna's rescue jeep, she felt safe. She laid her head on the headrest and closed her eyes. We named her Minka, which meant "strong-willed warrior."

As soon as she arrived at our trauma center, we got a good look at the wound on her neck and could see the full extent of her deep and painful injury. Our veterinarians immediately got to work on her and her strange wound was revealed. There was no chain or collar that had been embedded, but the wounds were actually several large, gaping holes. We were led to believe this may have been from an embedded pinch collar that has been removed, and now her wound was infected. Because of this, we were not able to stitch her wounds closed. And instead had to administer bandages, clean her wounds and rebandage them daily until her wounds healed on their own. . Every day her neck healed and her personality shined as bright as the sun. She made us smile and laugh and brought us so much joy. How could this little girl who has been let down by humans over and over again be so sweet? It was no surprise that once healed she quickly found her forever family, complete with a doggy sibling and a couple of kids who would be her sidekicks for life. She no longer needs to sleep with one eye open - she is safe, she is loved, she is home.

*If you are the winning bidder and are not in attendance to pick up your artwork the night of the event at the Four Seasons, artwork will be available for pick up from the Pine Street Shelter starting Friday, June 18th. If you are not local to the St. Louis Area, shipping will be an additional cost and will be calculated for each piece individually.