They say it takes a village to raise a child and the same is true in the world of animal rescue; sometimes it takes a community to save a dog.  With the staggering numbers of unwanted animals dumped into the LA shelter system every day, as you can imagine, most of those dogs never have an advocate.  They are either lucky enough to be adopted out directly from the shelter, they are pulled by rescue groups before their time is up, or they face the unthinkable.  Shelter staff are overwhelmed by the numbers and their hands are tied when it comes to saving a dog whose time is up.  But every once in awhile a very special dog passes through the shelter system; a dog that captures the hearts of the shelter staff; a dog whose sad eyes behind cold kennel bars is more than the staff can bear; a dog whose nature is so sweet and loving, that the shelter staff will fight to keep that dog alive.  Meet Raven.  She is one of those dogs.  Raven was left at the South LA Shelter where she would have been lucky to make it to the two week mark;  and instead,  she lasted a shocking two months there.  This is a dog who despite her abandonment and hopelessness, would roll over for belly rubs each time the shelter staff would take her out of her cage.  This is a dog who would extend her paw through the bars of her cage to reach out to the shelter workers each time they'd walk by; as if to show them that hers was a life worth saving.  This is a dog who wouldn't even flinch at other dogs at the shelter that would get up in her face each time she had to pass by them; and dog whose nature was so gentle that when the shelter became so crowded that she had to share her run with other dogs, she ended up getting attacked because the other dogs knew she was an easy target.  Raven had such an impact on the South LA Shelter staff that they made it their mission to save her life.  Never before have we seen so many emails go around the world in such a short amount of time, begging the rescue community to save a dog's life.  Within hours of her email release, Raven had supporters from all across the globe donating money to keep her alive and pulling every resource they could to keep her from euthanasia.  It was at this time that BRLA was approached to rescue Raven and we couldn't think of a life more worthy of being saved.   When BRLA met up with the staff and volunteers of the South LA Shelter, we were greeted with cheers, tears of joy, and the resounding chant, "Raven's heroes!  Raven's heroes!".   And when Raven arrived at BRLA, we knew in an instant why the community came together to save this dog.  Just as she did with the shelter staff, she immediately rolled on her back for belling rubs as if to thank us for sparing her life.  Even following her terrifying attack at the shelter, she greeted other dogs with a wagging tail.  She even met a couple cats at the vet's office and showed them nothing but respect.   With the number of fans that Raven has around the world, we were able to collect enough donations to send Raven to Camp Carlos where she will enjoy the freedom of running in the sunshine every day while she receives formal training; just the icing on the cake for whoever is lucky enough to make this exceptional dog a member of their family.   If you are looking for a dog that will make you feel good about rescuing a life; if you are looking for a dog that will thank you every day for showing her what it means to be a family; if you are looking for a dog that will give you back tenfold the commitment you make to her, then come meet Raven.  Come meet Raven and see for yourself how she's managed to leave imprints on hearts around the world.  Raven’s training has been sponsored by Take Me Home.