My name is: Yanna
I came from: China
Now I live in: Bristol
My favourite things are: Giving hugs (with both paws) to total strangers, being pampered and stealing slippers

Yanna’s story

Yanna came into our lives at 3am on the 28th October 2019 (on my sister’s birthday!) and our lives have been changed for the better.

After following the incredible work of Underdog International and Slaughterhouse Survivors for a few months, I was determined that we were ready to welcome a fur baby to our family. We first saw Yanna (known as Skye at the time), on Underdog International’s website and fell in love with everything about her. I showed Alex her profile and the rest is history.

From the moment I registered interest in Yanna, we have received nothing but unconditional support and sense of community in our adoption process. The thought of adopting a potential fur baby from a completely different continent was quite a daunting thought. That was soon put to rest when I spoke to Eve (Head of Adoptions) and was introduced to Etta (who oversaw Yanna’s adoption process). They made the whole process so effortless and reassuring, answering all the questions I had and most importantly, making sure that we were the right fit for Yanna.

We received regular updates while we waited for our home check, which turned out to be a super relaxed and friendly conversation with Etta about our plans and how we were going to make Yanna’s transition into our home as smooth as possible. The moment we were told we passed our home check and officially reserved Yanna was one of the most exciting days leading up to meeting her, it was official. I couldn’t wait to screenshot and send a picture of Yanna’s profile with the words ‘RESERVED’ parked next to her name to all my family and friends!

We knew that Yanna was due to fly out to us at the end of October and the short wait felt like weeks! The night we went to pick her up was so surreal. We expected Yanna to be relatively stressed when we went to pick her up after a long gruelling journey from China to the UK. However, she arrived to us looking extremely well looked after and relaxed! We’d like to thank John from 101 Pet Express for getting our beautiful pup to us safely. John was super friendly and professional and made us feel like he really cared about the dogs he was transporting. Yanna almost didn’t want to leave John at the end of her trip with him and gave him her signature hug before they parted ways.

Since Yanna's been home, she has received nothing but unconditional love from everyone we know. Her personality was exactly what we were told it would be and she has developed into such a character. Our experience with Underdog International has left us encouraged to consider adopting again so Yanna can have a furry brother/sister coming from a fantastic cause. We hope that we are the home that Yanna deserves and that she continues to blossom into the beautiful character she has already shown us she is. It’s like she’s been with us from the very beginning.

- Helen