Be aware. This is a hard story to write and a hard story to read. I guess that makes it all the more important.

Treasure is an older dog now in the care of Friends Of Homeless Animals, Central Falls, R.I., she will test the heart and strength of any dog or animal lover.

The original photographs of her taken a year ago when she was found wandering the streets of Central Falls are too horrific even for the FOHA to put up, I would not put them up on my website.

Treasure was found wandering the streets of Central Falls more than a year ago, the media stories about her abuse and injuries triggered a police investigation that resulted in the arrest of three people. You can see the original television story here. Be warned, it is hard to look at some of these images.

You can read the Providence Journal story about Treasure here, she was, for a time, a famous dog. But lots of dogs are abused, and people’s memories are short. Treasure remains in foster care, FOHA has decided she is too fragile to be put up for adoption.

The vet treating her says he is sound, she has some benign tumors that cannot be removed, and a deformed front leg.

The abuse of this dog was so savage that the police launched a major  search for her abusers.

FOHA took her in and put her in animal hospice care thinking she would only live a few weeks, but a year later, she is alive, and sweet and eating well and loving people.

I suppose this a triumph of the forgiving spirit of dogs and animals. Treasure is another one of those dogs that would be almost impossible for me to adopt, emotionally or practically, although I hope that can change one day.

A part of me thinks she should have been euthanized right away, but her foster caregivers says she has plenty of life left in her, she is a loving and peaceable dog. FOHA takes the most hopeless cases, I admire them for that.

Very few rescue groups or shelters I know of would have had the stomach to take in this dog and bring her back to life. This dog is the desperate among the desperate, the kind of dog nobody who is normal or sane wants.

I know this dog is not adoptable right now, and I understand the reality of that.

But Treasure also challenges our humanity, and she represents a powerful change to stand up for our own compassion and humanity. The people who know her believed she would make a great dog in a loving home.

Some people treat dogs cruelly, most people treat them  well. Treasure deserves to be treated well in her remaining time.

In this case, we are on the far edge of animal rescue, the toughest cases, the lost dogs. That will not appeal to everyone, but It may appeal to some. It only takes one, a particular kind of person.

I hope Treasure has some happy tim.

If you are interested in learning more about Treasure, or supporting FOHA’s work,  you can contact Friends Of Homeless Animals, Central Falls, R.I. Thanks, it’s a good cause and I believe in i t..