Playa del Carmen, Mexico, with its teal blue waters and soft sandy beaches, was an idyllic spot for a family vacation for the Pover family from Pennsylvania. But Evi Pover wanted her family to have more stimulating things to do besides just swim and get some sun, so she planned a visit to a local cat rescue for their Friday afternoon kitten cuddling hour.
Her 9-year-old son (pictured) and her mother spent time petting the cats, and were about to head back to the beach when they were told that there was a dog in the shelter, and she was nursing a litter of newborn kittens.
Suddenly, the event turned from being a casual vacation activity to something that felt more like fate.
"The dog came right out from her crate, stopped at my son and looked up at him," Pover tells PEOPLEPets.com. "She just flopped right on him and was very trusting. I asked right then and there if she belonged to anyone."
The pooch, a 1-year-old mutt with hints of corgi, beagle and Chihuahua in her appearance, was discovered by Coco's Cat Rescue at a kill shelter, where she had been nursing the kittens. The entire lot was about to be euthanized, and though Coco's Cat Rescue was really there to rescue the kittens, they took the dog with them.
"She saved her own life through being generous to these kittens," Pover says.
And when it came time to name the dog, Pover's son said that they should call her Hope. Pover agreed, but said that they should give her the Spanish name for hope, Esperanza.
"This dog has a really incredible spirit," Pover says. "Everybody who meets her falls in love with her. She seems really happy to be in a safe place now."
In about a month, after Esperanza gets all her vaccinations and finishes nursing the now 3-week-old kittens, she will be on a plane bound for the East Coast, and her forever home with her new American family.
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