WSMV Channel 4 Stray Columbia dog now has shot at Broadway

Talk about fate intervening. A Maury County terrier was just minutes from being euthanized at the animal shelter when she was given one more chance for adoption.

That one chance not only saved her life, but it gave her a shot at stardom on Broadway.

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Porky is a one-year-old terrier picked up as a stray in Columbia a few months ago.

"Not a single application was placed on her," said Sonja Dickson, with Rine Pet Pals.

With no adoption prospects, Porky's time at the Maury County animal shelter was up.

"The vet tech was preparing her to be euthanized, and she slipped out of her collar and she ran to the trustee charged with her care and jumped in her arms. And she said, 'please give her one more chance,'" Dickson said.

That one last shot came on 17-year-old Rachael Ledbetter's website Dapper Dogs.

"I had the idea of taking a picture of her hanging outside of my car," Ledbetter said.

The Columbia High School student snaps pictures of shelter dogs and posts them on her website. Her pictures have saved several shelter dogs.

"This year I saved about 24 so far," she said.

That figure now includes Porky, as her photo caught the eye of famed animal trainer William Berloni.

A phone call soon followed.

"And the first thing he said was, 'don't hang up its not a hoax,'" Ledbetter said.

Berloni is conducting a nationwide search for Sandy the Dog for a new Broadway production of "Annie."

Porky had the look, and Berloni recently worked with porky in Columbia where she passed her audition test with flying colors.

"She has a really good chance of being Sandy on Broadway," Ledbetter said. "Life is gonna be really good for this mutt from Maury County."

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