When Clanay Reza agreed to take in 4 extremely ill puppies, she never realized how it would change her life.
Reza, an independent animal rescuer, answered a Facebook post that begged for help with a litter of new puppies.
"A girl went on a Facebook group and said that her neighbor's dog had puppies, the mom was dead and she didn't know what to do," Reza said.
But when Reza offered to go get the dogs, the neighbor got defensive. Reza believes the neighbor didn't want people near his house because he had terrible breeding conditions in the backyard.
"He drove them all the way out here and dropped them off. These puppies were the size of kittens "” they fit in my hands," Reza said.
The puppies were tiny and extremely unhealthy. Over the next 48 hours, three of the puppies didn't make it. Only one puppy, Lucky, was left.
"He was so small, and he was having shallow breaths," Reza said. "But he survived, and I was so shocked. He was a little fighter."
11 months later, Lucky has pushed through and despite his numerous health problems he's doing great.
Lucky's eye had to be removed due to a nasty infection which left him partially blind. Pair that with albinism, and Lucky needs special sunglasses to go outdoors.
"I always tend to fall for the dogs who are the sickest or the weakest or the dogs that nobody wants, because they end up being like the best dogs ever," Reza said. "And there was something about Lucky that I gravitated toward."
Lucky's doggy goggles (doggles) are pretty spectacular.
"I try to limit the exposure outside, because [the vet] said he's more at risk of skin cancers," Reza said. "But he can't help it "” he just loves it. He'll go outside with his goggles and sunblock, and he just loves hearing things and just watching the cars go by."
"He brightens up everybody's day, wherever he goes," Reza said. "People just smile when they see him. They could be having the worst day ever, and they'll just look at him and become so happy."
"I've seen special needs dogs before, and I've always loved them, but I've never had them. It's just a different bond that you have with them, and it would be really different," Reza said. "With Lucky, it just shows me that you can be different, and have all these issues, but you could still be a happy and loving dog."