Lisa Pizzato has seen a lot.
As president of Paws of Dixie Animal Rescue, she’s no stranger to heartbreaking calls or desperate situations. But nothing quite prepares you for what waits at the end of a lonely dirt road deep in the Alabama woods.
It started with a phone call.
An elderly woman had discovered a family of dogs living inside an abandoned house and didn’t know who else to call. So she reached out to Pizzato for help.
When Lisa arrived in Tuscaloosa, she followed the woman down a long, quiet road lined with empty homes — many left behind after a devastating tornado tore through the area in 2011.
The house they approached was crumbling. Windows broken. Walls weathered. Nature slowly reclaiming what had been left behind.
Inside, the air was still.
And then she saw them.
In the middle of the debris and garbage lay a small, trembling pile of fur — six tiny puppies pressed tightly together for warmth and comfort.
Just babies.
Standing a short distance away was their mother.
Thin. Protective. Growling softly in fear.
She wasn’t aggressive — just terrified. A devoted mom doing the only thing she knew how to do: guard her babies in a world that had given her nothing.
Carefully and patiently, Pizzato secured the entire family. No sudden moves. No rushing. Just calm reassurance.
Soon, the little group was on their way to safety.
The mama was named Georgia — a nod to her Southern roots — and each of her six puppies was given a “G” name, too: Ginny, Gina, Grace, Grady, Grant and Gerald.
For the first time in their young lives, the puppies felt soft blankets instead of splintered wood. Warmth instead of cold floors. Full bowls instead of uncertainty.
They received deworming treatments and flea medication. Their foster mom gave them a quiet space to rest and decompress. And slowly, their personalities began to peek through — playful, curious, wonderfully unaware of how close they’d come to being forgotten.
“It was a good day,” Pizzato said.
But she knows too well that not every call ends this way.
Rural Alabama is overwhelmed with animals in need. Shelters are full. Rescue requests pour in daily. Backyard breeding and lack of spay-and-neuter resources only add to the crisis.
Still, stories like Georgia’s are reminders of why Pizzato keeps answering the phone.
Because sometimes, one call can mean the difference between abandonment and a future.
Today, every single one of Georgia’s puppies has been adopted into loving homes.
Their mom remains safe in foster care, waiting patiently for her own forever family — no longer growling in fear, no longer surrounded by rubble.
Just waiting for love.
Despite the emotional toll of rescue work, Pizzato remains steady in her mission.
“We know there are good people here,” Paws of Dixie shared in a Facebook post. “Because when we got the call, we answered.”
And because they answered, a pile of forgotten babies in an abandoned house now have warm beds, full bellies — and something they never had before:
Hope.
To help other dogs like these, you can make a donation to Paws of Dixie Animal Rescue.
