Recovered cocaine addict shares heartwarming story of how taking on shelter for deserted dogs helped him beat medicine as a result of he was so devoted to caring for animals with ‘damaged souls’

• Mike Favor, 40, was an lively cocaine person for 13 years when he adopted a eight week old German Shepherd with a coronary heart situation in 2016
• Soon sufficient, he arrange a rescue heart for deserted dogs and began a program to join recovering addicts with Pit bulls
• According to Favor, he prefers to focus pit bulls resulting from them being ‘the toughest to place, stigmatized as aggressive and harmful’

A recovered drug addict has shared his inspirational story of how he was in a position to beat medicine and switch his life round after adopting a puppy. 

Mike Favor, a 40-year-old New York carpenter and son of a cop, was an lively cocaine person for 13 years and was battling to get sober when he met an eight-week-old German Shepherd with a coronary heart situation in 2016. 

The rescue organization, the place Favor often volunteered, instructed him that the puppy solely had 4 months to stay resulting from its situation. 

After a lot reluctance, Favor took within the canine, named it Honey and stated: ‘I’ll give her the very best 4 months attainable’.

Little did he know that adopting Honey would begin his practically decade lengthy journey of sobriety and encourage him to arrange a rescue heart for deserted dogs. 

Freedom Home, a 4,000-square-foot sanctuary homes tons of abused or uncared for dogs that both left by house owners or discovered on streets.

Favor additionally runs a program referred to as Pitbulls and Addicts that connects recovering addicts with the breed. 

As the recovered carpenter explains, this system brings collectively ‘two misunderstood breeds that want care and acceptance’.

Apart from this, Favor additionally runs Broken Souls Rescue and Recovery, that’s amongst over 300 nonprofit rescue teams in New York that soak up stray or abused dogs, both from metropolis shelters or off the streets and facilitate adoptions.

‘I needed to point out individuals what works for me. This way of life with dogs simply made me not need to address medicine no extra, however to deal with damaged souls, as a result of I used to be a damaged soul. These animals gave me a objective to stay.

‘That canine accepted me for who I used to be on the lowest level of my life. As an addict, we go right into a nook and we defend ourselves. 

‘I opened up my coronary heart and I welcomed her. And with that, she welcomed me to seek out the person that is inside. I used to be nonetheless a damaged boy attempting to get to that man, the seven-year drug-free man instructed the New York Times. 

Talking of his present state, he stated: ‘This is seven years. I lastly really feel like I’m OK. I did not really feel this fashion my complete life. Like I lastly have a motive to stay.’

According to Favor, he prefers to focus pit bulls resulting from them being ‘the toughest to place, stigmatized as aggressive and harmful’. 

But beginning the shelters wasn’t as straightforward because it appears. 

‘I’ve been robbed. I let individuals sleep on couches. I put individuals in resort rooms. I took guys below my wing for a lot of, many, many months,’ he defined.  

Favor additionally suspects that somebody intentionally began a fireplace that burned down a lot of the shelter in 2019. 

When requested what he thinks the same old drawback with such dogs or with the world is, his go to response is ‘people’.

‘It’s the people. Soft-ass America will not be for me.’

Although Honey survived her situation for seven years and succumbed final 12 months, Favor has not been deterred kind his purpose and says there may be nonetheless extra work to do. 

‘If you walk previous a homeless canine on the street, you cease and also you need to assist,’ he stated. You walk previous a drug addict, you step over them. We have to do higher.’