“As soon as she entered the firehouse, her tail waved, and she licked and greeted everyone.”

Ashley’s previous owners barely fed her, barely took her out into the open, and eventually abandoned her.

Fortunately, Erica Mahnken, co-founder of No More Pain Rescue, and her fiancé Michael Favor rescued a one-year-old dog in January 2017.

“Someone informed us that a couple lived in an abandoned house. They had no heat or electricity, and they had a dog” Shortly after the rescue, Mahnken told The Dodo.

The couple probably left when the snow fell. “I think they went looking for some warm place to stay and left the dog behind,” Mahnken guessed. “So as soon as we got the phone call, we ran for her.”

Favor ordered Mahnken to remain in the car while he went inside to look for the dog. Later, he’d tell Mahnken how horrible it was. “There was no power in the home – it was frigid,” Mahnken explained. “She had no food or drink. The house was a shambles. The windows were shattered, and there was excrement everywhere.”

Ashley, on the other hand, was unharmed and seemed to be the happiest dog as Favor led her outside.

“She came running downstairs, overjoyed,” Mahnken explained. – She ran straight into my car.

Ashley was underweight and thin. “Her ribs were all you could see because she was so skinny. And the vet eventually informed her she weighed 25 pounds underweight.” 

Ashley also had cigarette burns on the top of her head, which they observed.

Because No More Pain Rescue does not have a physical shelter, Mahnken and Favor needed to place Ashley immediately in a foster family. They have acquaintances in the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) and knew there used to be a dog at the Fort Pitt station. So Mahnken and Favor asked the firemen if they could keep Ashley until they could find her a suitable home.

Ashley seems pleased with the deal.

“Her tail waved as soon as she stepped into the firehouse, and she loved and welcomed everyone,” Mahnken added. “She was overjoyed. You couldn’t have predicted that given where she came from. You’d think she’d be a little nervous, but she wasn’t at all.”

Not unexpectedly, the firefighting crew phoned Mahnken a few days later, requesting that Ashley be kept. 

“‘We’re going to adopt her,’ they said. We are really smitten by her. ‘She feels at ease here,’ “Mahnken explained. “So I was overjoyed. And as soon as I walked her in there, I knew she belonged there.” 

Shley now works full-time at the firehouse.

“He’s always on the move – he goes into small races with them, he rides with them in a fire truck,” Mahnken explained. “They take her for a walk about 30 times a day. They take her to the roof to play. She’s always in the kitchen and watching them eat. She has an inexhaustible supply of sweets. She lived nicely there.”