A woman has come to the rescue of a stray dog she found hiding under a car in the most distressing of states.

Chella Phillips has been rescuing homeless dogs in and around Nassau, in the Bahamas, for close to two decades now and made headlines for housing 97 dogs in her home during Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

"I moved to the Bahamas over 20 years ago after getting married," Phillips said. "Because I was constantly rescuing and on the streets, my husband made me choose the dogs or him. I chose the dogs."

That decision has likely saved the lives of countless stray dogs in the region.

In an interview with local paper The Tribune earlier this year, Kim Aranha, the president of the Bahamas Humane Society, said that the tourists she had spoken to were "disheartened" by the stray dog population they encountered on the island.

"Some of the tourists end up writing to us and saying, 'I saw a black dog on this beach,' etc, 'here's a picture,' and we end up catching it and sending it to the States to them," she said.

"That happens time and time again. Tourists are heartbroken when they come here and see the stray population, and they want to help."

Though many of these "strays" are dogs owned by people who prefer to let their pups run free and efforts have been made to spay or neuter animals to keep the stray population under control,

Phillips has seen firsthand the grim reality of life for many strays on the island. It's a grim reality she helped Athanasia escape.

"Five weeks ago while feeding homeless dogs at this particular beach that is more of a cemetery for abandoned dogs, I found Athanasia starved and close to dying under a car," she said.

Phillips said many of the dogs she encounters on that particular beach have been "abandoned by their breeders" with pit bulls making up the majority of the dogs there, many of who have simply been dumped by the people they once called family.

She doesn't know a whole lot about Athanasia's past, but her future was looking decidedly bleak when she first found her.

"She was riddled with sarcoptic mange, dehydrated and anemic, not to mention the grotesque and pestilent venereal tumor," Phillips said.

But Phillips had been there before and knew how to get Athanasia the treatment she so desperately needed if she were to have any semblance of a happy life.

She was put on a course of antibiotics, and efforts were made to get her putting on weight with a view to Athanasia eventually undergoing chemotherapy. Described as "good with other dogs and sweet with people," Athanasia, the dog Phillips remembers for having the "saddest face" now "smiles" and is happy in her new life.

"She has a bed in my bedroom, listens to music during the day and is grateful that she never has to roam the beach trying to find food in the trash," Phillips said. "Her skin has improved tremendously and is now soft and beautiful."

In all likelihood, barring an adoption, Athanasia will remain with Phillips before heading off with close to 90 other dogs this December to try to find a home over in the U.S. Others have shown it is possible.