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A DREAM AND A PROMISE
I met Ruby in a dream before I ever laid eyes on her.
We hadn’t planned on taking her. We already had another husky with a broken back, and we were stretched thin in every way—
time, space, resources, heartache.
I wanted to say no. But that night, she came to me. Not in real life, but in a dream. She didn’t beg. She didn’t cry. She just looked at me calmly and said,
“I won’t take much. I just need a halfway home until my mission begins.”
The next morning, I said yes.
A TINY WARRIOR ARRIVES
She came to us from the streets of Juárez, Mexico. A car had hit her, and her back was broken. For two full months, she laid there—paralyzed and alone—until a street rescuer finally stepped in to save her.
She received medical care, and once she was stabilized, her rescuers started looking for someone who could give her a second chance.
That someone became us.
When Ruby arrived at Husky Halfway House, she didn’t walk—she rolled in with purpose. Tiny, sharp-eyed, in a diaper and wheelchair, and full of fire, she claimed her space immediately.
She barked orders, zipped through the dorms like she was on patrol, and had no patience for anyone who didn’t take her seriously.
We called her Ruby Roo.
We called her hall monitor. We called her boss.
And we loved her instantly.
She wasn’t a fan of other dogs, but she was ours.
Her sass was unmatched.
Her will was unbreakable.
And her presence? Unforgettable.
But as much as she meant to us, we knew she deserved more than life at our rescue facility could offer. She couldn’t run in the yards with the others. She needed her own space, her own couch, and a person who could give her the level of one-on-one care her disability required.
We tried a few homes within H3, but nothing was quite right. Watching her spend more and more time in her kennel broke my heart. I wanted more for her than we could give.
So we made a decision.
One that felt right at the time,
and one I will live with forever.
After a few tries at a couple of homes within H3, we decided that what was best for Ruby would be to seek out a special needs rescue that specialized in the kind of care she required.
I dreamed of someone doting on her while she lay curled up on the couch.
I dreamed of her being seen not as a burden,
but as the strong, fierce survivor she was.
When a special needs rescue in Chandler, Arizona stepped up, we were ecstatic about her future. They told us they had the experience, the setup, and the heart.
So we packed up everything she owned—her clothes, toys, wheelchairs, drag bags, diapers, and all the little things we used to make her more comfortable—and we loaded her into the car.
We drove her to Chandler, where she was supposed to meet the face that would save her and give her everything we couldn’t.
Or so we thought.
THE SILENCE AND THE LIE
When we got back to H3 without her, it felt like something was missing.
The dorms were too quiet without her rolling through. I missed the sound of her barking. I missed her spirit.
But for a while, the updates helped. We received photos of Ruby on adventures, smiling, basking in the sun. For a few weeks, it looked like she had everything we hoped for.
But we hadn’t made the right decision.
We had handed her over to a monster.
We didn’t know the truth until September 2023, when news broke of a massive animal cruelty investigation in Chandler. The founder of the rescue we had trusted—April McLaughlin, also known as Sydney Taylor McKinley—had been arrested. Her so-called rescue, the Special Needs Animal Welfare League, was a front.
A hoarding situation. A house of horrors.
Chandler Police removed 55 living dogs and five deceased puppies from her home. Most were in need of immediate medical attention. The Arizona Humane Society said it was one of the worst cases they had ever seen. April was charged with 110 counts of animal cruelty and abuse.
But Ruby wasn’t among the survivors.
For weeks, I told myself she was safe in a foster home. I convinced myself that no news was good news. But the truth came crashing down during a livestream court hearing. I watched as the woman I had trusted described what she had done.
Ruby had been locked in a bathroom for two months. She had been left in her own urine. She was so neglected and traumatized that she had chewed off her own tail. And when she was finally seized, her condition was so dire that the Arizona Humane Society had no choice but to humanely euthanize her.
I sent her back to hell. I didn’t save her—I handed her over to the person who would end her life in the worst possible way.
The moment our greatest fears were realized.
RUBY'S LEGACY
After being hit by a car and left to defend herself for two months on the streets of Mexico with a broken spine, Ruby had found her way to Oklahoma and into all of our hearts. And then we gave her to a woman who destroyed her.
Ruby is gone.
And I will never stop grieving her.
But this is not the end of her story.
Because Ruby didn’t just survive hell once. She survived it twice. And in doing so, she helped expose a predator. Alongside 11 others who didn’t make it out, Ruby became part of what the rescue world now calls the Chandler 12.
These 12 dogs—these victims—helped bring down a monster. And because of them, 47 other dogs were saved.
Ruby’s suffering sparked justice. Her story lit a fire.
Everything at Husky Halfway House changed because of her. We no longer transfer dogs. We no longer pass off their care. We rescue, we rehab, and we rehome—ourselves. Period. Ruby reminded us what this work is really about.
Not numbers. Not volume. Lives. Trust. Accountability. Presence.
She may not have had the ending we dreamed of. But she fulfilled the mission she told me about in that first dream. She was here to teach us. To wake us up. To fight for the voiceless. To make sure this never happens again.
Ruby was never just a rescue. She was a reckoning.
A storm in a tiny body. A warrior in a diaper on wheels.
She is no longer halfway home. She is free.
And every single thing we do from this point on,
we do with her name on our hearts.
Rest easy, Ruby Roo. You did it. You kept your promise.
And now, it’s our turn to keep ours.
JUSTICE FOR RUBY
Say her name.
Share her story.
Help us fight for her.
For justice to the fullest extent of the law.
🖤 Ruby Roo 🖤
Forever our girl. Forever our why.