Chained and Forgotten: Ziva’s Journey from Fear to Family

In a quiet corner of Houston, Texas, a helpless puppy sat chained to a tree. Her body was gaunt, ravaged by mange and open sores. Her paws were raw, likely from pacing or dragging herself on rough ground for days, maybe weeks. Her eyes—sunken and tired—looked out at the world not with anger, but with a quiet kind of resignation.

No one knew how long she had been there.

No one knew how many people had passed by without stopping.

But one day, someone did stop—and that made all the difference.

The dog, later named Ziva, was just 8 months old when she arrived at the BARC Animal Shelter in Houston. At the time of rescue, she weighed only 12 pounds—less than half of what a healthy Staffordshire terrier mix should weigh at that age. Her fur was nearly gone, replaced by crusty, red skin. She had been starved, neglected, and left completely alone. Her physical wounds were obvious. But the emotional ones? Those ran deeper.

“When I first saw her photo, I didn’t even know what breed she was,” said Barbara Zuluaga, a board member with A Chance to Bloom Dog Rescue. “I thought she was maybe a Chihuahua. She was just so small and covered in mange, you couldn’t tell.”

Zuluaga had seen many cases of neglect in her work with rescue dogs, but Ziva’s condition stunned her. Still, something in the little dog’s eyes caught her attention. There was still light in them—faint, but real. And that was all Barbara needed to act.

She pulled Ziva from the shelter and rushed her to a veterinary clinic for immediate care. There, Ziva was cleaned, examined, and given the first real touch of compassion in what was likely her entire life.

“When you picked her up, she would just shake,” Zuluaga said. “She wouldn’t make eye contact. She was absolutely terrified.”

But amidst that fear, someone else saw something worth saving.

Stephanie Williams, one of the veterinary technicians treating Ziva, found herself deeply moved by the pup’s fragile state. “It broke my heart to think of her going back to a shelter environment after everything she’d been through,” Williams said. “I wanted to be part of her recovery. I needed to be.”

So Stephanie volunteered to foster Ziva—and it changed both of their lives.

Over the next two months, Ziva began her transformation. Slowly, with steady meals, medicated baths, and gentle encouragement, her skin healed. Her fur began to grow back. She started gaining weight. But even more beautiful than her physical recovery was what happened inside.

“She learned how to be a dog,” Williams said. “It sounds strange, but everything was new to her—eating from a dog bowl, drinking clean water, sleeping in a warm bed, cuddling on the couch. It was all foreign to her. But she embraced it.”

Ziva began wagging her tail. She made eye contact. She followed Williams from room to room, and for the first time, she played. Her personality began to shine through—a mix of sweetness, shyness, and quiet curiosity.

But as she healed, the rescue team knew they had to find her a permanent home. Ziva was special. She’d been through more than most dogs could survive, and she needed someone who truly understood her trauma—someone who wouldn’t just love her for her now-cute face, but someone willing to continue the emotional healing that was still underway.

There were many applicants. Ziva’s petite size and heart-melting eyes drew attention online. But Zuluaga was careful. She turned down multiple well-meaning adopters who didn’t quite feel like the right fit.

Then, one day, a message came in.

“A woman wrote to us and said she had read Ziva’s story and felt like it was her calling to adopt her,” Zuluaga recalled. “She had rehabilitated dogs before and understood what Ziva needed. We spoke, and it was clear—she was the one.”

That woman was Cassie Rogers from Fort Worth, Texas. And this past weekend, Ziva went to her new forever home—and got a new name, too: Roxy.

“Roxy is doing fabulously,” Rogers said with joy. “She’s completely attached to me now—I’ve become her mom.”

In her new life, Roxy has blossomed into a playful, affectionate, and loyal companion. She now plays with toys, eagerly waits for treat time, cuddles on the couch, and sleeps in bed beside her new human. She even runs freely in the backyard, tail wagging, chasing after her new canine siblings.

“She’s starting to act like a normal dog,” Rogers shared. “She gives me kisses, she wants to play, and she follows me everywhere. It’s like she knows she’s home.”

From a tiny, broken puppy chained to a tree and left to suffer, to a thriving, joyful dog surrounded by love—Roxy’s story is nothing short of remarkable.

For Zuluaga and Williams, it’s stories like Roxy’s that fuel their mission to keep rescuing. “It’s not just about saving lives,” Zuluaga said. “It’s about giving them the chance to experience love—real love—for the first time.”

Roxy is living proof that even the most wounded souls can heal with the right care, patience, and compassion. Her past may have been dark, but her future is shining brighter every day.