It's a heart-wrenching tale, and it's still not over yet.
Hershey is a Min Pin, or Minature Pinscher, who survived a puppy mill in Ohio for five years. She was sent to the Minpinerie in Ottawa, where she was adopted by Karla Irwin.
"When I went to the Minpinerie, there 12 other dogs there," recalls Irwin.
"She knew I was there for her."
Hershey had already been adopted and returned by a few families because she wasn't house-trained, but Irwin was able to accomplish that. She planned on giving Hershey to her daughter in Toronto, but her connection with the dog was too strong.
"I didn't want her to have to change environments again," says Irwin.
So instead, she adopted her. Just days after she signed the papers, Hershey was out for a walk in the woods with Irwin's other three dogs. They came across a porcupine and Hershey took action to protect her new friends.
"She got out of her collar, ran for the porcupine, got in a tussle with (it) where they were actually somersaulting...rolling over on top of each other," remembers Irwin.
The result was devastating. Hundreds of quills lodged all over Hershey's body. Animal Emergency Ottawa spent three hours removing all the visible quills. Hershey had to undergo three surgeries to remove quills that had migrated inside her, including having a kidney removed. Then, some more tough news.
"They did another scan (and) found the quill in her heart," says an emotional Irwin.
The Alta Vista Animal Hospital couldn't do surgery. In fact, open heart surgery on animals of any kind happens in very few places. The quill was also in a tricky spot.
"There is a question mark about the way the quill has entered the heart," says Dr. Jacques Sottiaux, cardiologist at the AVAH.
"That will determine the possibility of removing it from one spot or another."
Irwin first looked at bringing Hershey to Japan, but then she spoke to Dr. Chris Orton at Colorado State University. They're the only program in North America that performs open heart surgery on dogs. Without that surgery, Hershey will die.
But Irwin needs funding to get to Colorado. She's started a GoFundMe page to raise the $5,000-$15,000 she'll need for the procedure.
"She's my little miracle. I think she deserves that shot," says Irwin.
Her family is concerned about the thousands of dollars she's already spent, but Irwin isn't giving up.
"I hear so many people say your pets are like your kids. But when it comes to something like this, they all have a limit as to how much money they’re willing to spend and I can’t put a dollar limit on her life because it’s valuable."
