When Raja hears, “I’ll be home for Christmas”, the easy-to-love, 18-month-old, beautifully brindled, Boxer-mix pup thinks of the Shelter. That’s partially because she’s been there since September, nearly one-fourth of her life. But it’s also because the shelter is the only place where Raja has been safe, warm, fed and, most importantly, loved. The people Raja sees each day actually seem to like her.

No one knows about Raja’s earlier life. But the shelter staff knows that the 39-pound, short-haired, vulnerable pup was abandoned to die. Raja was alone outdoors in Hurricane Helene.

Raja can’t explain how she survived or, equally amazingly, how she can still love and trust humans completely. Yet she does. Raja deserves a real forever home and a real forever friend.