From Trauma to Triumph: Poppy's Story Continues To Inspire Us All
Matthew Russell
Janet Buntain's life changed the day she rescued Poppy, a dog found chained to a stump in a drug bust in rural Kentucky. Including Poppy, 20 dogs were discovered and rescued from a terrible situation.
"I don't really know what happened to a lot of those dogs. Unfortunately, a lot of them probably didn't have a happy ending. But when Poppy was taken to the county shelter, he just had this great personality despite what he had been through and so the shelter really did their best."
Fortunately, Poppy was one of the lucky ones, and he landed in the care of PBSF Dog Rescue in Louisville, Kentucky. Janet's friend and former roommate, Sarah, founded the rescue, and Poppy was taken in as a long-term foster where he underwent surgery.
"He had an eye removed. He couldn't see out of it," Janet says. "It was really painful. He had abscesses in his mouth. He was full of worms and all those things. So while he got healthy and just rested, he stayed with that foster and then eventually made his way to Louisville."
Instagram / poppypiratedogPoppy was much loved by his human, Janet, and many others he met.
That's when Janet took him in.
"He came to our house and we both just fell in love with him," she says. "He was such a sweetheart and he was very much attached to women in particular. If you were one of his people, he just absolutely loved you and was very attached."
Poppy loved to snuggle, was eager to please, and always charmed everybody he met.
Janet says it was exciting to see Poppy come out of his shell. He became very trusting, despite everything he had been through, and he loved to be around his family. He and Ginger, Janet's older dog, got along great from the beginning, and they became the best of friends.
Both Janet and her roommate Sarah had experience fostering dogs in the past, and knew how to help dogs that had experienced trauma.
"There are extra precautions to take, like giving them a lot of time to decompress, being aware that they might be a little nervous around other dogs or people they don't know, and giving them the time and the space to get comfortable," Janet says.
Poppy quickly became a beloved member of the family, and for that time Janet could not imagine life without him.
