The dog that saved Mike Favor’s life was a German shepherd puppy named Honey: 8 weeks old, heart condition, four months to live. When he heard about the puppy, at a rescue organization where he occasionally volunteered, he knew he couldn’t take her. “I’m too new into sobriety,” he told his fiancée at the time, who also volunteered at the rescue center. Favor is a big tough guy, son of a cop, a self-described “street dude” with a chip on his shoulder. Favor, 40, showed off the product of that encounter: a 4,000-square-foot rescue center and sanctuary for abused or neglected dogs called Freedom Home.

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Persons: Mike Favor’s, Favor, “, ”, Honey, “ I’ll Locations: German, Staten Island