“They Found Her in a Garbage Dump—Now This Little Dog Is Searching for Love Across Borders”

No one really knows how long she was out there—alone, tiny, and forgotten in the middle of a Mexican landfill. A scrappy little dog with eyes full of quiet hope, surviving day after day in a place no living thing should ever have to call home.

But somehow, against all odds, she held on. And that’s where her story begins.

They call her Pukita now. A soft name for a dog who has lived a life anything but soft. She weighs just 15 pounds, a mix of Pug and Cairn Terrier, with wiry fur and a heart that’s somehow still wide open to the world.

No one knows where she came from. She simply appeared one day among the rubble and garbage, one of many strays scraping by near a Mexican dump site. But even there—where people rarely stop to look—someone saw her. Workers called in a local rescue, and from there, everything began to change.

Pukita, along with over 30 other animals, was brought to a park where rescuers hoped to find anyone willing to care. And that day, destiny showed up dressed in a Great Dog Rescue New England (GDRNE) t-shirt.

The volunteers from Massachusetts were visiting Mexico, never expecting to find a tiny dog with a story that would follow them home. “It took months,” they later shared. “Getting her medical records, a passport, everything. But she made it. She’s coming to New England.”

Today, Pukita is curled up in a soft bed in her foster home, miles and worlds away from where she started. She’s four years old now—and finally learning what it feels like to be safe.

“She’s just… love,” her foster family says. “She melts into your arms. She’s a snuggler. She wants to be with you.” Kids, adults, cats, other dogs—Pukita doesn’t care. She loves them all. It’s as if the years of loneliness only made her heart grow bigger.

She walks gently on a leash. She listens. She’s even crate-trained—but don’t expect her to sleep in one. “She’d much rather sleep in bed with you,” her foster laughs. “And really… can you blame her?”

After everything she’s been through, can you?

As July peeks around the corner, Pukita waits. Her tail still wags. Her eyes still search. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s closer than ever to the one thing she’s always deserved—a real home.

A forever family.

And she’s not alone in this. Great Dog Rescue New England, the group that brought her all the way here, is made up entirely of volunteers—people who give their time, hearts, and homes to dogs like Pukita. They don’t run a shelter. Instead, every rescued dog lives with a foster family until they’re adopted.

They do this all on donations, offering not just homes, but second chances—to dogs from across New England and the southern U.S., many of whom wouldn’t make it without help.

They believe, deeply, that every dog matters.

Even the forgotten ones.

Even the ones found in landfills.

Especially them.

So here she is. Pukita. The little dog who crossed borders, beat the odds, and kept loving through it all.

And now, she’s waiting for someone to look at her and say the words she’s always deserved to hear:

“You’re home.”

Maybe, just maybe… that someone is you.