The lovely Maia, of Pet Project Rescue, contacted me a while back about helping out with a photo project. They took in a very sad-looking German Shepherd who needed a lot of help to get better and get adopted. The idea is to photograph Lukas every two weeks while he recovers, until he finds his forever home. When I met him, I couldn’t believe what a sweet, kind boy he is. He’s had a horrible life until now, but his eyes are bright and filled with gratitude and love. Here’s his story, copied directly from the Pet Project Rescue site:

Lukas found himself scared and alone in a local animal control. At first glance we thought he was an elderly dog at the end of his life, and we could not bear the idea of him dying alone in a strange place. As it turns out he is just 2-3 years old, but life had been unkind to him which made him look much older. Day after day we would visit him all the while trying to figure out how we could rescue him.

One day, at animal control, we crossed paths with a stranger that had taken to Lukas. She specialized in hospice care for dogs. It just seemed too perfect to be true, but like everyone that meets Lukas, she wanted to help him…and right then we had a foster for Lukas! We were so thrilled that we arranged to pick him up the very next day.

He went right to the vet, and began a number of tests, one of which was for Lupus, an autoimmune disorder. Lukas was 15 lbs under weight, and had damage to the bones in his legs due to malnutrition as a result of neglect. He had skin lesions on his tail, shoulders, face, and nose. Lukas was cleaned up, started a very healthy diet, and begin his much needed medical treatment. At this time he has tested negative for Lupus, but we will follow up with additional tests to be 100% sure once he is stronger.

We have high hopes for Lukas and are so thrilled that we were able to give him a warm and loving home after years of neglect. We will keep all Lukas’ supporters up-to-date on his progress on this page and our Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/PetProjectRescue.

Lukas will be looking for his forever home once we have determined his medical issues are stable and his medication is working properly.

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Here’s a couple of my photos from our first shoot. If you’d like to see the whole set, click here and scroll down for the slideshow.

If you feel compelled to help Lukas, please click here to make a donation to Pet Project Rescue.