It was 9:30 p.m. in San Antonio, Texas, and Corporal Perry was out responding to a call — a stray pit bull was barking at the door nonstop, the caller reported, and they feared the dog was aggressive.

But when Corporal Perry arrived at her destination, she didn’t expect to see this.

“I was expecting a big, scary dog based [on] what the caller indicated,” Corporal Perry told The Dodo. “Instead, I found a scared little girl that was just trying to stay warm in an abandoned car seat surrounded by trash.”

San Antonio was experiencing an unusual winter storm, with frigid temperatures, and even Corporal Perry was shivering in her jacket. It seemed the dog, later dubbed Martha, had been living on the streets for a while. Her ribs were visible through her thin fur, and being open to trusting a stranger seemed a long way off.

As the officer approached her, she didn’t budge. Finally, Martha looked over her shoulder and then looked away. It seemed to Corporal Perry that she was conflicted — was a person actually going to show her kindness?

Corporal Perry could tell Martha was eager to get out of the cold, so she led her to a waiting truck with a warm blanket inside. Martha jumped right in and wagged her tail as she was scanned for a microchip. “It was amazing how quickly she came around,” Perry said. “It was like she knew I was there to help her.”

At the shelter, Martha scarfed down all the food placed in front of her. “She also was very interested in a crate of toys the animal care staff keep in the kennels, so Perry let her choose a lovey,” Lisa Norwood, public relations manager for City of San Antonio Animal Care Services, told The Dodo. “It turns out she was underweight, heartworm positive and obviously had litters in the past.”

To have a real chance of finding a family, Martha had to get out of the shelter and learn how to be a family dog. Luckily, the Mains family had seen her story online and signed up as fosters to give Martha a second chance.

Martha’s personality is starting to shine in her foster home, where she’s learning manners from her three foster dog siblings.

“Her fosters say she has settled in and sleeps on their bed at night,” Norwood said. “They are also getting used to having no privacy because Martha follows them everywhere! Her foster mom says, ‘She doesn’t know to “dog” yet, but she’s learning.'”

Besides sticking close to her foster parents, Martha has looked for comfort from other things in the house — especially her stuffed toy babies.

“Apparently, she collects all the dog toys in the house,” Norwood said. “Her lovey bear she got at the shelter is always front and center.”

Martha is receiving heartworm treatment and slowly gaining weight in her foster home. Soon, she will be ready to find a forever family and deserves so much more than a trashed car seat — this Velcro pup needs a warm dog bed in a loving home piled high with cuddly toys.

Real-Life Scooby-Doo Waits In Shelter Hoping Someone Will Choose Him

He’s 180 pounds of pure love.

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Source: Tampa Bay Times