TIFTON — The smile is back on the face of a local woman after people who read a letter about someone stealing her dog responded by uniting her with another one.

Carlene Akins’ white toy poodle, Star, was stolen from her yard on Golden Road recently. Carlene’s mother, Annette Cole, wrote a letter to the editor of The Tifton Gazette asking anyone tempted to steal such a precious pet to think twice and “maybe, just maybe, you won’t break another person’s heart.”

“The poodle named Star was given to her as a gift after a long stay in the hospital. She has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. ...Now she sits in the yard every day waiting for Star to return,” Cole wrote.

Mendy Dillard, an advertising representative at the Tifton Gazette, and Stephanie Spinks, manager of Athletic Attic, were talking business one day and Spinks asked Dillard if she had read Cole’s letter.

“I told her we needed to get this girl a dog,” Dillard said.

Dillard contacted Cole, who was receptive to the idea and only suggested that the new dog be fairly small. Dillard and Spinks considered giving Akins another toy poodle, but then Dillard thought adopting one from the animal shelter was a better idea.

“I thought it would be a lifeline for both the girl and the dog,” Dillard said.

Dillard and Spinks visited the Tifton-Tift County Animal Shelter to look at dogs available for adoption there.

“I didn’t want to see all the dogs there,” Spinks said. “My family has told me that I can’t bring anymore animals home.”

Spinks and Dillard were looking at the animals available for adoption when Cocoa, a dachshund/Labrador retriever mix, stole their hearts.

“The dog turned the corner and slid under my seat and looked up at me as if to ask me if he was in trouble,” Spinks said.

Spinks, Dillard, Sarah Covington, Bo Tisdel and Rachel Wainwright pooled their resources and paid for Cocoa’s adoption, which included necessary shots and neutering. A local pet stop owner donated a bed and the group paid for food, flea medicine for a year and a few dog toys. Once Cocoa was set, he was delivered to Akins at her home last week.

“There are some good people in this world,” Cole said. “God is in the plan.”

“Her mother said that was the biggest smile she’d seen on Carlene’s face in a while,” Dillard said.

Cole said her daughter and Cocoa have already bonded. She said Cocoa sits with Akins and is enjoying his bed in the home’s den.