On a whim, Founding Member Donna Platt decided to go to the local animal shelter to visit with the puppies. Along with her husband and a couple of friends, a life-changing journey began, when Donna and her husband met and adopted Sasha, a Kuvasz. They soon learned that for the first 1 1/2 years of Sasha’s life, she was in and out of the local animal shelter, rejected by home after home and severely neglected and abused. Sasha was a victim of multiple domestic violence households. Sasha developed survival mechanisms: she was fear aggressive, ripped every shade off of every window in their home and shredded them, she ate through a door, chewed the arm off of a couch, and dug a hole in the carpet down to the wood flooring. Sasha became very protective of her new guardians so she would not let anyone into their home. Sasha was enrolled and completed a beginner’s obedience class a total of 6 times before she would let anyone touch her. Determined to turn Sasha’s life around, Donna decided Sasha would become a therapy dog. After much socialization, support, patience, love and understanding, Sasha’s heart and soul emerged. Sasha graduated from the many obedience classes and advanced agility classes and became a certified therapy dog. Sasha trusted people again, and she was so gentle with the nursing home residents. The many senior citizens she met, and with whom she worked, adored her. She overcame enormous obstacles and lived life with purpose and love, bringing joy to many. When Sasha was 15 3⁄4 years of age, she was honored by the Kuvasz Club of America as the oldest living Kuvasz in the United States of America. This accomplishment was a tribute to her strength, her determination and her strong will to live and survive after being a victim in a domestic violence household. She had a great, full and enormously fun life, replacing all of her bad memories with great ones. Even at her passing, her spirit was strong. Her life achievements would make anyone proud. Her thirst and zest for life combined with her strong will, had gotten her through her hard and victimized times so that her deep and loving heart and soul could shine through. It is through Sasha’s story that it became abundantly clear that intervention is essential for these loving pets who suffer the type of abuse Sasha endured while living in domestic violence households. It is a tribute to the life of Sasha that The SASHA Foundation was born. She is our inspiration.