Sometime in March/April of 2010, in the heart of Compton, California, a puppy was born. And on that day, the puppy didn’t know what kind of life she would be living.

The puppy had a lot of energy and she wiggled her butt around the owner’s place; chewing up furniture, shoes, and whatever else caught her eyes and teeth.

The puppy thought she was safe in her home. She was fed and given water and as puppies do, she grew. Then one day she grew to a bigger size, all of 20 pounds. Right before her one year birthday, her owner gave her away to the Downey Animal Shelter. The shelter was consistently overcrowded, so the animals were put down after five days of entering the shelter.

Had I not been on petfinder.com that week, I never would have met the puppy who would later travel with me around the country.

On April 25, 2011, Butters and I became best friends.

Butters… a few minutes after leaving the shelter.