The first time Heidi Priest tried to pet Stormy, a 10-pound terrier mix that was given up by her former owner, he bit her so hard her hand bled.

What the little dog with the old-man eyebrows didn’t know was that he was up against an animal lover with a steely determination to see all pets experience love and acceptance in a happy home.

Stormy also was unaware of a groundswell of community support from animal lovers across the county and beyond that occurred after his medical condition worsened, and Priest said that support continued right up until there was no other option but to euthanize the little dog with the big personality.

Priest — who punctuates a discussion on Stormy’s journey with the whispers “sweet little angel” and “Stormy, Stormy, Stormy” — learned of a little dog in Valencia whose owner had dumped him on her sister-in-law, who had young children.

The woman unceremoniously unloaded the dog on the family member because he was urinating everywhere and she had to get rid of a couch due to the situation.

“He was not socialized,” Priest said. “He had no manners, so he was very reactive.”

Also, he was not neutered, which Priest feels would have helped the situation.

After Stormy bit the woman’s 6-year-old daughter, he was tied outside to the family’s house by a leash.

“She reached out to the Butler Rehoming Group on Facebook and said ‘I need help with this dog,’” Priest said. “She didn’t want to put him down. I felt for her.”

Priest offered to help surrender Stormy and get him neutered, and called the Butler County Humane Society to help her find him a new home.

“I called, and they said they were completely booked,” Priest said.

She reached out to other individuals and groups, but received no offers to care for and rehome Stormy, who she thinks was about 5 years old.

“It was starting to get cold, and I was worried about him being outside,” said Priest, who has three small house dogs and five livestock guardian dogs at her home.

So on Dec. 11, she drove to Valencia to get Stormy in the interest of fostering him, getting him neutered, and finding a loving home for the misunderstood pup.

“I went up to him, and he bites me. He bit me on the hand, and I’m bleeding,” Priest said.

She understood that Stormy was only guarding his meager habitat, so she asked the woman if she could unhook the leash so Priest could walk Stormy around a little.

Stormy immediately led Priest to her car, where the feisty little dog jumped up on the lap of Priest’s friend and began licking her face.

Priest took the wiry-haired dog home and put special diapers on him so he would not ruin her furniture and beds.

“I was changing that diaper three times a day,” Priest said.

Stormy and Priest had an appointment Dec. 13 at Suburban Animal Clinic for shots and to schedule the neutering surgery.

Priest’s husband, Sadler, and the couple’s three young daughters were also falling for Stormy as the dog settled into their foster home, where he slept in bed with the Priests.

Because Stormy loved to be outside, but would take off if loose, Priest had a wireless collar on order to allow him to eventually run without a tether, but not onto the busy road where the family lives.

But on Dec. 16, while Priest was out, her youngest daughter opened the door and Stormy streaked out without Sadler’s knowledge.

The dog headed straight for the road, where he was struck by a vehicle.

“He was fast and real sneaky, so if you didn’t watch, he would sneak out the door,” Priest said.

Priest immediately returned home when a distraught Sadler called to report the tragic news to his wife.

Priest took Stormy to BluePearl Pittsburgh North pet emergency center on Camp Horne Road in Ohio Township, Allegheny County.

There, veterinarians told her he needed two surgeries on his hips to the tune of $6,000 to $8,000, but Priest found a reputable surgeon at Cheyenne Veterinary Wellness & Surgical Center in Pittsburgh who agreed to examine Stormy and perform surgery for less if possible.

Stormy underwent surgery on one hip, as the veterinarian at Cheyenne did not feel he needed surgery on the other hip.

Priest was thrilled to bring Stormy home to recover.

“He was healing really well and doing really good, and then the day after Christmas, he wasn’t eating and I could tell he was having trouble going to the bathroom,” Priest said. “BluePearl did say with these types of injuries, complications can arise later on.”

She returned to Cheyenne, where it was discovered that Stormy’s tiny bladder was completely full. The veterinarian drained it using a catheter.

“He said ‘We need to keep an eye on that. Something is just not right,’” Priest said.

Concerned about Stormy’s struggle, Priest took him to Butler Veterinary Associates.

“They did an X-ray and saw that his bladder had ruptured,” she said.

Veterinary surgeons there put a temporary catheter through his abdomen to drain urine, but did not know why Stormy had a blockage or where it was.

After a week at Butler Veterinary Associates, Priest took Stormy back to BluePearl.

“There was nothing draining his bladder,” Priest said. “At that point, it was another emergency.”

Surgeons there told her the surgery would cost a minimum of $10,000, and another $3,500 for a scan to find the blockage. The surgeon added that because Stormy had not used his bladder on his own for more than a week, it might not work even if repaired.

“And they couldn’t even give me a good prognosis,” Priest said. “If they had said ‘We think it can be fixed,’ I 100% would have done it, but it was also important for me to make the right choice.”

It was then that Priest made the painful choice to have veterinarians put Stormy down, but not before he received countless cuddles and kisses from his dedicated foster owner.

“If I had the money and knew that it would be successful, things could have been different, but no matter how much you love him, if the doctors tell you he is too damaged to have a successful outcome, you have to make that difficult decision,” Priest said.

Priest had opened a gofundme.com online fundraiser when she initially rescued Stormy to raise $500 to pay for his shots, neutering and other expenses.

“It was Christmastime, and I didn’t have the extra money to take in this dog,” she said. “When I found out he needed surgery after his accident, I updated it and it was all kind of a blur from there.”

She paid BluePearl $3,800 for his initial emergency visit and two-night stay, $2,400 for the hip surgery at Cheyenne, and $5,100 to Butler Veterinary for the catheter surgery and five-night stay, in addition to his shots, neuter surgery, cremation and urn.

Luckily for Priest, who is a busy mother of three, Realtor and specialty cake artist, she has many friends and acquaintances who eagerly watched for Facebook updates on Stormy’s condition and who shed tears of sadness and frustration when they learned he ultimately could not be saved.

“We raised over $13,000 total,” Priest said. “I already knew Butler has a big heart. For me, I’ve never had a situation like this. I was really blown away by how many people felt invested in Stormy’s story and recovery.”

She said she raised funds in the online fundraiser when Stormy needed his initial medical bills, then more poured in when she updated Facebook on his need for hip surgery.

“It felt like a dream come true that I was able to make this happen for him,” Priest said. “It makes me feel really loved that I had all this support, but it also made me feel guilty. So many emotions.”

Priest’s friend, Cindy Cipoletti, of Center Township, said she and her husband, Bryan, donated a significant amount of money during Stormy’s journey as Priest updated his condition on Facebook.

“When Heidi rescued Stormy, we were kind of all very supportive of her,” Cipoletti said. “Then, when Stormy needed surgery and she was trying to raise money, I reached out to her to make a significant contribution because she was doing all of the hard work.”

Cipoletti is not the least bit surprised that Priest went to such lengths for a dog she barely knew, even at Christmastime with a husband and three daughters aged 9 and younger.

“Heidi has the softest heart,” she said. “She was so kind and such an angel to take that dog in the first place.

“It says so much about who she is as a person. Heidi sees the best in everyone, and that includes people and animals.”

Cipoletti said Priest made cookies with a picture of Stormy’s face and drove them to all the veterinary facilities that had treated the little dog.

“He just never had a chance, and she gave him a chance,” she said of Stormy.

Now, Stormy remains a part of the Priest family in his etched wooden box, which rests in a place of prominence in the family’s home.

“He couldn’t advocate for himself, but he was a fighter,” Priest said. “He was very determined and stubborn and I felt he was really trying his best to stay with us.”

Priest struggles to find the words to sufficiently thank the legions of people who followed Stormy’s story, donated toward his care, and contacted her to share their similar stories.

“It made me really, really appreciate all the people in my life and the people in this community,” she said. “Knowing the donors trusted my decisions? It’s special to have that.”