A tribute to a true Warrior Princess

She was a true-blue American Pit Bull Terrier, with the heart of her namesake Warrior Princess. And she's gone where all good dogs -- and heroes -- go.

I got to know Xena through my work with Chicagoland Bully Breed Rescue. She was one of the early ones who joined my now-extended family. She was owned by Carolyn, our fearless leader in the rescue and the same woman who now owns my Caesar's littermate Pilot.

Xena understood people are people, some good and some bad. She knew to love the good and ignore the bad. She was also able to overcome her past. Last night, when her mom texted me to tell me she had left, I shed a tear for that chunky girl, the one-eyed wonder, who I loved for her strength, power and amazing ability to love and forgive. She is a shining example of why I love this breed.

For my dear friend Carolyn and the Mighty Xena, our Southside Warrior Princess, I wanted to share this tribute Carolyn wrote last evening. Xena's start was not a good one, but she was given a long life of love and adoration. This is Xena's story:

I got a call from an elderly lady who had said, "The gangbanger next door beat the dickens out of his pitbull puppy because she wouldn't fight. I went out with the broom and gave him a whupping like his momma should have done years ago!"

I asked if she called the police and she said, "Child, I live at 79th and Cottage Grove. The police ain’t coming out for a dog!"

I arranged to pick up the puppy in the morning and as I pulled up, I realized that this was not the North Shore. A couple little kids ran up to my car and said, "You’re the pitbull lady!" I was puzzled and asked how they knew. Giggling, they answered, "Because white people don't come around here." They grabbed my hands and led me into the building.

I walked in to see the most pitiful, beat up emaciated puppy laying on the couch with a teenage boy. She had a bandage over her eye… I realized after I took the bandage off that it was there to hold her eye in place. I quickly picked her up and carried her to the car. Off to the vet we went.

It was discovered that she had multiple old and new breaks in her shoulders, legs, ribs, and pelvis. She also had an electrical cord embedded under her skin. After some more x-rays, we discovered her muzzle was cracked and she had 3 spots on her head that were shattered. And she was only 4 months old.

Xena lived a long -- but not long enough -- life with multiple dogs around, kids going in and out all the time, and truly lived up to her name. She was the Chicagoland Bully Breed Rescue mascot for years and accompanied me to every event to show off just how good pitbulls -- even abused ones -- can be. My fondest memories of her will be her sitting on a chair at the front of our booth waiting for people to pet her. As soon as they saw her eye and asked what happened, she turned to look at me as if it were my cue to tell the story.

She's always had difficulty walking but the last few months were the worst. She had a hard time getting up a couple of days ago and stopped eating yesterday. Thinking it was still her leg bothering her (especially with the change in weather) I wasn't too concerned. When I came home today and she just groaned when I rubbed her belly, I felt the distention and how cold her extremities were. Her gums were white and she had limited blood flow. She was bleeding internally from a mass on her spleen that ruptured.

Xena passed peacefully with her mom, Uncle Steve and friends Anna and Morgan with her this evening.