We've been working with Dachshund and Weimaraner dog rescues since about 2009, and many people never get an inside understanding of what rescuers deal with
whenever the rescues are called to take in a dog. Here's an account of 2 dogs that were in really bad shape.In March, the Dachshund Rescue of South Florida received a call from someone who claimed he was "watching" 4 senior Dachshunds, all in very bad health, after their "owner left them behind." - It was obvious he was their owner (not a parent, because these dogs were in such horrible shape). Here's their account of what happened:
Dachshund Rescue South Florida: The Joy and Heartbreak of Rescue
4 Neglected souls found their way to our door....For two, tragically, our help came too late. For two, there is still a chance. Will you help us help provide them the care they have so long been denied via their FundRazr or via our website?
Read on for more of their heartbreaking story and conditions.....
There is no greater joy in rescue than when a neglected soul makes it
way to our door while we can still help them, and there is no greater
heartbreak than when they find us too late. We experienced both the
soaring joy that rescue can bring along with the spirit shattering
heartbreak x 2 with these four little ones who came to us from
Homestead.
The story doesn't add up...a man in Homestead had supposedly "found"
these four and had been "looking for their owner" and "was going out of
town and could no longer keep them". They needed rescue and we brought
them in. They were transported north to Boca and Dr. Roof and the team at Pet Medical Center of Boca re-arranged
their entire schedule to immediately provide them the medical care that
they so desperately needed and it quickly became evident that rescue
had come in time for two of them and for the other two, tragically, we
were too late.
1) Agnes, a beautiful 10 year old girl, weighed only 7 lbs. She was
diabetic and covered in mammary tumors. She was nothing but skin and
bones, having visibly been starving for quite some time. X-rays showed a very enlarged heart. She was transported again from Boca to Leader Animal Specialty Hospital and she saw the emergency vet and then had a consult with Dr Schroeder (cardiologist) and Dr Alvarez (internal medicine).
The treatment for long time untreated diabetes (hers was so bad that her
body was literally eating itself to try to stay alive) is at least 24
hours of IV fluids to flush out kidneys etc. The treatment for severe untreated heart disease is limit fluids so the heart doesn't get too overworked. All the doctors worked together to try to come up with something that
would give her a chance, but even in oxygen she was laboring to breathe.
We had to choice but to let her go, and Pam held her and gave her as many kisses as she could fit in and gently let her go.
2) Seymour was a 10 ish year old boy who was quadriplegic. No deep pain in
the front and limited ability to feel in the back legs. We had no idea
how long he had been that way, which made the fact that he was a "stray"
seem that much more unlikely.
X-rays showed a severely crooked and compressed disk in his neck. He
also had a deformity to his rib cage that we don't know if it was injury
or if he was born that way. Unfortunately, the X-rays also showed that
his heart was enormous and he had bladder stones. With such severe heart
disease he was not a candidate for surgery and that was no way to live.
Bloodwork also showed some abnormalities.
With her heart shattering again, Pam wrapped him up and held him for
almost an hour and told him how beautiful he was and what a good boy he
was and let him go.
In just the span of a few short hours, we had lost two little ones, that
had we only found them sooner, we maybe could have saved. Our hearts
were broken, but we had two more that needed us and we can help...
CONTINUED ON TOMORROW'S BLOG
