Malasia Johnson was 15 feet away from abandoning her dog.
The teen rubbed her eyes, puffy and red from 12 hours of crying, squeezed her beloved Yorkie/Maltese mix, Karter, and inched toward the counter at the city's East 110th Street animal shelter.
"I don't want to give him up, but I don't have a choice," Johnson, 17, said, as she neared the front desk. "He barks all day long and the building management has been complaining, so my mom said I have to bring him here."
But Jenny Olsen, a volunteer who sits at a TV table in the middle of the shelter, was determined not to let Johnson reach the front desk - at least not without a fight.
Olsen runs the Safety Net program, which aims to help New Yorkers keep their pets by offering free food and heavily discounted veterinary, training and legal services to the ever-increasing ranks of the financially distressed.
Calls to Safety Net's hot line are up 50 percent since the economy imploded in September.
Olsen puts already-heartbroken pet owners on the spot, questioning their motives in an impromptu trial on the animal's behalf. Aside from the offers of assistance, she uses any means necessary, including large servings of guilt, to get owners to reconsider abandoning their pets and giving them a possible death sentence.
In Johnson's case - as in many others - it didn't take much to change her mind.
"This all sounds very manageable - we can have a professional trainer come to your home and work with you and Karter," Olsen told the girl.
"You mean you can make him stop barking?" Johnson asked. "You mean I can keep my dog? Thank you."
A NEW LEASH ON LIFE - New York Post