A nine-year-old rescue dog that stole the hearts of thousands of people online and spent more than 840 days in care has found her forever home.
Magenta the kelpie had been with RSPCA NSW after being mistreated and seized from a property in 2020.
She captured people's hearts on social media when her story was shared on RSPCA NSW's Facebook page with more than 3,300 comments and 3,200 shares, which made it one of the most popular in the page's history.
RSPCA NSW then received expressions of interest for her adoption from all over Australia.
Now, after retraining, humanising, and surgery, Magenta's new owners said she had been settling in "tremendously well" and that they "love her to bits".
The couple wished to stay anonymous after adopting their social media star but said they were seeing daily progress.
"Every day she is becoming more confident, wagging her tail more and more," they said.
"[She had a] really hard life. I thought she would be really happy here."
Magenta was one of more than 27,000 animals set to spend Christmas in foster care, but her new humans came just in time.
It was music to the ears of the RSPCA's Kate Conaghan, who had been fostering Magenta after the kelpie had leg surgery.
"She did spend Christmas in her new home … we found a lovely semi-retired couple and they fell in love," she said.
"I think, more than anything, she's enjoying having lots of bits of furniture to lie on and two people all to herself, which is probably all she's ever wanted."
Long road, long future
Ms Conaghan said Magenta's past owners had not been caring for her properly.
"She was kept on a short chain and didn't have appropriate shelter or food and water at times," she said.
From the day she was seized, the old dog had to learn new tricks.
"She learnt to spend time off lead. Obviously, for a dog that's been tied up for a really long period of time, learning to free range is quite the task," Ms Conaghan said.
"When she was worried in an open space and unattended, she would dig.
"Teaching good down time is such an important thing, especially for a working dog — they're generally not wired that way."
Ms Conaghan saw Magenta gain confidence, coming out of her shell to play "ever so gently" with her other dogs.
"Watching her learn to play with my dogs was very, very cute," she said.
"She has potentially mothered pups, and certainly interacted with other dogs as though she had."
Ms Conaghan said it was critical that Magenta's new owners had an understanding of her needs and traumatic history.
"They seemed to reassure her but didn't make her feel overwhelmed or worried in any way — everything was very much on Magenta's terms," she said.
"When you have a dog that is in care for a long period of time, you want to make sure they go to a home that can appreciate their needs."
'Incredible' work
Magenta's owners praised the work the RSPCA had done to help her over the past two years and encouraged others to consider adopting from them or becoming volunteers or foster parents.
"What RSPCA NSW have put into Magenta is absolutely incredible," they said.
"The love on everyone's face when we were picking her up from the shelter, everyone cares so much.
"There are so many beautiful rescue dogs that just want a second chance."
