Ashleigh Berlin 
When a 10-year-old boy died running into a fire to save a stray dog, his foster family abandoned his body. So, 400 local dog owners showed up. “He’s going into an unmarked grave on Friday,” the shelter manager sobbed through the phone. “The foster family won’t pay for a funeral. And the dog he saved… …
A heavily scarred ex-convict marched into my animal shelter with a dying pitbull and $42, confessing he stole the dog from us fourteen years ago. My hand hovered over the silent alarm beneath the front desk. It was ten minutes to closing, the snow was blinding outside, and I was entirely alone in the lobby. …
I watched a retired firefighter deliberately smash a police car window and drop to his knees just to save a terrified golden retriever from an abusive millionaire. “Arrest me. Please. You have to arrest me right now.” The old man’s voice wasn’t shaking. He simply dropped the heavy steel emergency wrench onto the pavement. He …
I publicly humiliated a homeless teenager for putting a fake twenty-dollar service vest on his dangerous pitbull, until the vest fell off and exposed a horrifying, heartbreaking truth. “Get that beast out of this establishment right now!” I yelled, tightening the expensive leather leash on my purebred Golden Retriever. My blood was absolutely boiling. I …
I watched a wealthy couple humiliate an old man for buying a dog treat with pennies, completely unaware the dog’s faded vest would destroy them. “Are you seriously going to make us wait while you count out pennies for a mutt?” the woman in the designer dress snapped, tapping her perfectly manicured nails against the …
I paid three hardened Alaskan survivalists to drag my screaming, addicted son out of his apartment and lock him in a freezing cabin with an aggressive, unadoptable wolf-dog. The heavy wooden door splintered inward with a deafening crack. Three massive men in thick winter parkas pushed past me, ignoring my silent tears as they cornered …
When a terrified little girl ran past a busy crowd to hide behind the most intimidating, heavily scarred janitor in the building, everyone froze. “Please,” she sobbed, her tiny hands gripping his grease-stained uniform like a lifeline, “don’t let him take me.” Arthur was just trying to finish his shift. He was a massive man, …
I was ready to print “MISSING” posters and offer my life savings as a reward. My Golden Retriever, Buster, had vanished without a trace for three terrifying days. When he finally strolled up my driveway, he wasn’t injured, and he wasn’t sorry. He was wearing a handwritten invoice tightly zip-tied to his collar like he’d …
I watched my neighbor load her entire life into a rented truck, but it was the rusty wire crate left on the sidewalk that stopped my heart. Inside that crate sat a golden retriever mix with a snow-white muzzle. She didn’t set him down like he was precious. She set him down like he was …
A Desperate, Homeless Man Carried His Dying Terrier Through A Blizzard To A Free Clinic, Only To Discover The Veterinarian Was The Troubled Orphan He Saved 25 Years Ago. “I don’t have a dime, but I will scrub your floors until the day I die! Just please, save my dog!” Elias screamed, his voice cracking …
My greedy landlord brought 20 massive bikers to throw me out and steal my late husband’s military K9, but he had no idea those men were combat veterans. “Get that beast out of here right now, or I’ll have these gentlemen drag it out by its neck!” Mr. Vance screamed, his face turning a furious …
I was about to go viral for secretly recording a terrifying biker crying over a pink unicorn, until his scarred Pitbull revealed a heartbreaking secret that ruined me. I yanked my golden retriever’s leash so hard he yelped, pulling him out of sight behind a massive display of dog treats. I was staring down aisle …
I thought the terrifying, scarred beast charging at me on the bridge was going to end my life, but instead, it pinned me down and saved my soul. My boots slipped on the icy concrete as I leaned over the black, rushing water. I had completely given up. The heavy, suffocating weight of my depression …
Animal control dragged my harmless rescue dog away to be euthanized over a neighborhood lie, but two hundred tattooed skateboarders showed up to save his life. The heavy metal catchpole snapped tight around Barnaby’s neck, but he didn’t even growl. He just whimpered and looked back at me with those big, terrified brown eyes as …
The scariest junkyard owner in town showed up at my door at 10 PM dragging his teenage son and holding my terrified, stolen golden retriever in the pouring rain. “Drop to your knees and tell them exactly what you did,” the massive, scarred man roared over the deafening sound of the thunder. My husband tightened …