American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Dog of the Year award – Xena the Warrior Puppy has been named the Dog of the Year in the ASPCA Humane Awards.
Xena was found malnourished and abused in Dekalb County,Georgia and was taken in by Officer Chrissy Kaczynski, who is also a founder of Friends of Dekalb Animals.
She made a miraculous recovery and a Facebook page was set up to fund additional treatment for the dog.
Jonny Hickey, 8 who has autism met Xena at a party that was thrown in her honour and ASPCA report that the two bonded instantly.
They became friends and Jonny started to communicate more by talking and singing.
Linda Hickey, Jonny’s mother, said:
“He is the happiest child that I’ve ever seen him be in eight years,”
Now Jonny and Xena help promote awareness of various causes, including preventing animal cruelty.
Xena took part in the Atlanta Dog Jog and the Atlanta Autism Speaks walk, and received a medal from the Georgia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The blog on The Animal Rescue Site Blog website can be found here
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