She stole the hearts of Canadians on morning television with puppy dog eyes and boundless amounts of energy after a rough start in life.
Gracie is a retriever mix dog who was rescued in Norway House, Man. last summer in a horrible state. She was malnourished with chunks of skin missing from mange.
Warning: photos below may be disturbing to some audience members
A mentor named Doreen with Norway House Animal Rescue (NHAR), which goes into remote communities to work with people and improve living conditions for animals, spotted the suffering dog, initially called Bliss.
“Doreen found Bliss in a state that was unacceptable to say the least,” said NHAR’s Bryan Bishop.
Volunteers with NHAR nursed Gracie back to health by taking her into care, getting her vaccinations, heartworm and blood work done.
After a few months of healing, Bishop brought the pup on Global News Morning Winnipeg on Aug. 21, 2017. Just over 30 seconds into the interview, Gracie jumped up on couch and started playing with the host Shannon Cuciz, showing off her sweet personality.
WATCH: Gracie (known as Bliss at the time) featured on Global News Morning
Meanwhile, over in B.C., Pam Pasicnyk heard about Gracie from her sister living in Manitoba. When she learned the dog was missing skin, she couldn’t bear to look at it.
“My sister, she’s very connected with the rescue of animals and so she had originally sent me a photo of Gracie when she was very, very unwell … I couldn’t even open that email from her.”
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“I couldn’t do it, my heart was so broken and so I couldn’t even go there,” Pasicnyk said.
Pasicnyk was still upset about the loss of her family’s dog, who passed away about one year before she heard about Gracie.
The Pasicnyk family was slowly starting to think about adding another pet to their home. When they finally watched the TV segment featuring Gracie on Global Winnipeg’s Facebook page, they knew she was the perfect fit.
“I said ‘Let’s watch this you guys’ … and this white dog was just full of life and beams,” Pasicnyk said. “At that moment it was like click … I think this is the dog, and every one of us looked at each other and nodded.”
“We’re the proof that when you air these things there are people out there who are ready and have open hearts and they just need a little budge.”
It didn’t take long for the Pasicnyk family to contact NHAR about adopting Gracie. After they received the ‘okay’ from the rescue, Bishop prepared Gracie for her first plane ride to B.C.
PHOTO GALLERY: Gracie gets ready to leave Manitoba for B.C.
Pasicnyk said their new dog fit seamlessly into the family, becoming her daughter’s new sibling right away. They named her Gracie because of the grace the dog brings to their life.
“We are just beyond, beyond happy … there is no remnant of her hard life before she met us, there is only love and sweetness and joy, I can’t think of another word when I think of her.”
“She walks into a room and then we start giggling because she’s doing something that’s making us laugh,” Pasicnyk said. “From the way she greets us in the morning, she bounds on the bed and cannot contain her excitement … and it’s like this every time when we see her … she’s this little bundle of happiness.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Gracie loving her forever home and family in B.C.
Pasicnyk gets emotional when she thinks about all the people who worked hard behind the scenes in Manitoba to save Gracie’s life.
“We even learned there were fundraisers for her and it just became clear to us that grace played a big role in her life,” Pasicnyk said.
“There’s this group of strangers who helped us find our family member, and without that group and so many in different parts coming from everywhere, we would be missing one of our family, and it’s hard to express the gratitude and the thankfulness.”
Pasicnyk said she wishes she could spend time in Manitoba, meet every one of the people that touched Gracie’s life and give them a big hug.
“The whole thing about a rescue dog is you think, well who rescued who, right?” Pasicnyk said.
“We all feel like we’re a family of four now.”
Gracie is one of more than 90 dogs who have found forever homes after appearing on Global News Morning Winnipeg’s weekly Adopt a Pal series, which features different rescues around Manitoba every week to give animals in need of a forever home exposure.
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