A Good Samaritan brought Tilly to the city shelter after finding her injured and alone in Fairmount Park. Scared, emaciated, and suffering from a broken leg, Tilly weighed only 15 pounds when she should have weighed 30. PAWS rescued her and got her the immediate medical attention she needed to get her health stable. Staff member Natalie took Tilly home to recover for what was meant to be a few weeks – but Tilly had other plans!

“I started fostering Tilly on Easter, and had no idea at the time how long the pandemic would turn out to be. Tilly came to me very sick, malnourished and with a broken leg. After months of intensive care she was finally healthy enough for adoption! But, the thought of continuing pandemic life (and beyond!) without her felt impossible. She had become such a big part of my life… so I made it official!”

“Once her leg healed we spent every day off hiking and watching her blossom into a confident, playful, healthy teenager gave me a sense of purpose. One of the best parts of my summer was watching her channel her orca whale namesake, Tilikum, and throw herself wholeheartedly into whatever body of water we came across on our hikes.”

“I have fostered hundreds of animals over the years and only ‘failed’ and adopted two of them (now three!). Tilly is so very special and one day soon she’ll make a great foster sister to another shelter pet in need of foster care.”