There are many forms of animal cruelty, some more overt than others. But while every instance is shameful, one of the saddest forms cruelty can take is also one of the least visible: abandonment. For a pit bull puppy named Bluebell, life began with the loneliness of neglect, but fortunately, it led to a happy home bursting with love. Here is her Happy Tail.

In May 2014, Bluebell and four other dogs were found abandoned in a Brooklyn home after the home was burglarized. It’s hard to say how long the dogs had been alone in that house, but at just seven months old, Bluebell was clearly starved for love and attention. To help meet those needs, we decided to place the puppy in a temporary foster home until she was older and ready for permanent adoption. We contacted Keith F., a former vet tech at the ASPCA Animal Hospital, who agreed to foster Bluebell in June.

Keith already had a full house with the two cats he adopted from the ASPCA in 2007 and 2009, “Johnny 4 Fingers” and “The Dude.” Though he wasn’t planning on expanding his family in any permanent manner, it didn’t take long before Bluebell began to work her magic. “The day I brought her home, she curled up in my lap the whole drive home,” he recalls. By the time he arrived at his ocean-side apartment in Rockaway, Queens, he was in love. “When I saw her smiling on the beach, I knew she was home.”

After that, the next few months were a mere formality. “I pretty much made the decision to keep her the day I brought her home,” Keith laughs. “After that, it was just waiting to sign the papers.” And Blu—as she’s now called—really hit the jackpot. Keith says: “She is loving life out here. She gets to go to the beach and run as long as the weather permits. She loves the dog park. She has two best friends and neighbors that she gets to play with a few times a week, and she has two cats to play with (even if they don’t always want to play with her).”

The fact that Blu began life in a lonely, abandoned house makes it that much more satisfying to see her in a home so full of love. When we asked Keith how he knew Blu was the right dog for him, he said, “I didn’t—she knew she was right for me.” Congrats, Blu!