EXCERPTS FROM PAT ARNOLD'S DAILY DOG LOG - First published on www.straydog.org 8/19/2001
MONDAY AUGUST 13 2001 Adopted puppy-dog, Dusty, is doing fine!
This morning we received a cute email message from Dusty's dad and mom, telling us all about how wonderfully Dusty is doing with this new family. The mom and dad are so happy with Dusty and say their little puppy dog is the smartest young fellow in the doggie obedience class he is attending.
TUESDAY AUGUST 14 2001 New friend, and fellow dog rescuer, Billy Lawson, offers his help to put in the water system
Billy Lawson, who has rescued many stray dogs and puppies too (in the Mesquite area) has been a big help to our Happy Home for Strays by offering to drive us to our adoption days if needed, and he has given many generous donations to our shelter. Today he called offering his services to help put in the water system we so desperately need. We gladly accept his offer to help!
UPDATE on many of our adopted dogs
Over the past few days we've received messages about many of our adopted dogs and puppies. As reported above we heard from Dusty's mom and dad that all is great; Princess is doing wonderfully, and her grandma sent photos too so we can see how pretty she is; Jake is doing beautifully at his new home; J.J. and Missy (Dusty's little sister and brother) were adopted together are the smartest little Lab pups in the whole world, their mom says. Last week we heard about Tommy Tootles graduating with flying colors from his obedience class, and we heard that Tootsie just started her obedience training and is just fine too.
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 15 2001 BOOMER's blood test shows no more heartworms!
Boomer is just fine, said Dr. Stephen after he'd seen the results of on-the-spot the blood test to see if Boomer was clear and free of heartworms. No more heartworms, so now this big Catahoula fellow can start the monthly heartworm preventive, Sentinel, which all the other 63 dogs are on.
THURSDAY AUGUST 16 2001 Our Happy Home for Strays is full!
Our Happy Home for Strays is always FULL. We have tripled in size over the last five years and are now caring for 63 dogs and pups, which also means we've had to triple the number of employees to care for the dogs, and because of the increase in animals, and the increase of employees the costs of running our Happy Home for Strays (including a sky-rocketing vet bill) has also increased tremendously, and we all realize we simply cannot take in any more dogs or pups--until our numbers go down.
Every day we receive calls to take in rescued strays
The calls we receive each week to take in strays that other people have rescued increase every day. Many of our furry friends have been adopted, but every time we find a wonderful home for one dog (or puppy) we immediately hear about another needy little fellow, or two or three--as with the three Lab pups, then Hope with sister Hannah, Timmy with his little sister, Coco, and our two newest arrivals, Baxter, with companion friend, Beauty, who desperately need a safe haven. Every week we receive phone calls from people asking us to take in the rescued dog or pup they've found. When our shelter is full, the very hardest part of our job is to have to tell these people that we have no room to take in the rescued dog (or puppy) they have found.
Twice rescued dog desperately needs help
Due to lack of kennel space I initially had to say no to taking in a dog named Angel, until I heard the sad story of how this precious dog had been rescued -- two times!
"Angel's" heartbreaking story--which has a happy ending!
Angel's first rescue: It was an icy cold night last New Year's Eve when Andrea, driving toward (and nearing) her home, saw a small dog dart across the road directly in the path of the car ahead of Andrea, and the dog was hit. The impact sent the poor dog skidding across the road into the ditch along the roadside. The driver who hit the dog did not stop.
Andrea stopped and crawled down into the icy ditch to try and help the dog. The small Retriever mix had a horrible gash across the front of her head, from one ear to the other, and she growled as Andrea approached her, but as soon as Andrea was able to touch the wounded dog, the dog crawled into Andrea's lap, so happy to be rescued.
Andrea took the dog home with her, and her friend (a former marine) knew exactly what to do for the little dog to stop the bleeding and how to care for the dog until they could get her to the vets the first thing the next morning. They were concerned that the little Retriever (whom they named Angel) may have other wounds that they weren't aware of, and they were right.
Angel stayed at the vet clinic for nearly a month, recovering from her wounds, and when she was back on her feet, Andrea somehow managed to locate the dog's owner (who lived near Andrea), and Andrea returned the dog to the family, who appeared to be happy to have Angel back.
After returning the dog, Andrea would often see Angel in the front yard as she drove by Angel's house. Weeks later, however, Andrea became concerned when she realized that she hadn't seen Angel for quite a while, so she decided to pay the family a visit to see how Angel was doing.
Angel is rescued a second time!
When Andrea went to the door of Angel's house, the owner of the dog was very hesitant to talk about Angel and appeared very ill at ease when Andrea asked to see the dog. Andrea's persistence prevailed, and she was finally led to the back yard to see Angel.
What Andrea saw broke her heart. Angel was tied to a stake in the yard on a four foot rope, with no shelter, no shade, and no food or water in sight. The dog was nothing but skin and bones, her once beautiful furry little body was now just bare skin, totally covered with bloody raw sores. She was so emaciated she wouldn't have survived much longer.
Andrea was so horrified at seeing how badly this precious dog had been treated, and knowing that the dying dog needed immediate vet care, she insisted that the owner give her the dog, and the owner complied.
Angel's whole body was so raw and bloody that Andrea had to drive the short distance to her home to get a sheet to wrap around Angel to cover the open wounds so she could take the dog to her vet. Andrea said she was terrified that the owner might hide Angel somewhere before she could get back, but the little Retriever was lying in the same muddy spot when she returned, and the owner was nowhere in sight.
Angel was in so much pain that even the slightest touch to her skin hurt her terribly, Andrea said, so it was very hard for Andrea to untie the tight rope from the little Retriever's neck. Andrea wrapped the little dog in the soft sheet and carried her to her car, gently placing Angel in the front seat beside her. All the way to the clinic the dog lay beside Andrea with her head resting on Andrea's lap.
After four months of vet care, Angel recovers ... again
This time it took nearly four months of special care at the vet clinic for Angel to recover. In addition to being emaciated, she had such a severe case of demodec mange that it will still require several more months of treatment before the mange totally clears up, but her pretty soft fur has started growing back.
Now that the dog has regained her health (except for the continuing mange problem) Andrea and another friend Kathy have been trying very hard to find a good home for Angel. They've advertised in their local newspapers, but the few people who went to the clinic to see Angel ended up not wanting to adopt her, and the no-kill shelters they have called are all full, and the other shelters will not take "a sick dog" or have said they would have to put Angel down because of the severity of the mange problem. Then Andrea and Kathy heard about Straydog and called us. They were praying that we would be able to take her in.
We will take Angel
The story of Angel was so heartbreaking we could not refuse to help her. Our Happy Home for Strays is also full but we will somehow make room for Angel. Kathy will get back to me as soon as they know what day they will be bringing Angel to our shelter.
FRIDAY AUGUST 14 2001 A wonderful man donates $5,000 to our Happy Home for Strays in loving memory of his wife, Dolores
An email message yesterday from Mr. Bill Campbell was quite a shock. He had recently read about our shelter on our website and wanted to give a large donation to our Happy Home for Strays because he believes in what we are doing.
His beloved wife, Dolores, passed away in June, he said, and she always had a deep love for animals. After he read about our no-kill shelter and the care we give all the dogs and puppies, he wanted to come for a visit to give us his donation in loving memory of his wife.
Mr. Campbell came this afternoon, and I showed him all around our shelter. He is a wonderful man, very soft spoken, and he talked lovingly about his dear wife, Dolores, and how much she had cared about the welfare of helpless animals.
We will be forever grateful for Bill Campbell's help, and we are having a plaque made to hang in our office (or somewhere at Straydog) for all visitors to see commemorating Dolores Campbell's deep concern and love for animals.
Stevie and Little Pete's dad, Mike Nicholson, calls wanting to help with the water system too!
I'm sure we've said it many times before: Stevie (the blind Retriever mix) and Pete (his long-time "seeing-eye buddy") have a wonderful dad and mom, Mike and Ann Nicholson, and their "boys," Stevie and Little Pete, are about the most pampered house pets ever!
Mike called tonight saying he had read our last week's weekly update on our website about our desperate need for a water system, and he wants to help us. How wonderful of him. Mike and Ann have already done so much to help our shelter, and the most wonderful thing of all is the loving care they give to Stevie and Little Pete.
[Photos of Mike, Stevie and Pete]
SATURDAY AUGUST 18 2001 No dogs or puppies adopted today, but Blackie Blue Eyes comes to see us at PETsMART
The day started with a thunderstorm, and the heavy rain continued most of the way to PetsMart but turned out to be very sunny as we got closer to Dallas and stayed hot and sunny while we were there. No pups were adopted today, but we were visited by Blackie Blue Eyes Husky and her mom, Theresa, along with her friend and his dog, Duke. What a nice surprise. Blackie had been adopted exactly one year ago, so Theresa was celebrating Blackie's "birthday" and had brought Blackie in to pick out some birthday toys. Blackie Husky is beautiful and it's so nice for her to have a dog companion, Duke, to play with.
It was still sunny when we left PetsMart but a little over half way back to Straydog (about a 75-mile trip) we encountered another terrible rainstorm. Randy (who manages our shelter when I'm not here) said that the storm had hit hard here too, and that our three newest employees, Tammy, Juana and Bo, had done a fantastic job of taking care of all the dogs for the entire day, continuing to work in the rain.
Randy often puts in long, 12 to 14 hour days (especially on Saturdays) at our shelter, and we are so thankful for his dedication to our Happy Home for Strays.
SUNDAY AUGUST 19 2001 Getting ready for new arrival Angel
This morning I spoke with Kathy and Andrea about Angel's arrival to our Happy Home for Strays. Kathy will take her to our vet clinic for us tomorrow morning, Monday. Angel has not been spayed yet, due to being so sick for so long, but now that she has recovered we'll see what our vet thinks about her being healthy enough to go through with the surgery.
What we know about Angel (whose name we're changing to Angie since we already have a dog named Angel) is that she is a Retriever mix, a little over one year old and weighs approximately 45 pounds, and that she likes children. The mange problem, for which she is being treated, is not contagious.
We did some major rearranging of a few of the dogs in order to be able to make room for this precious little Retriever, and all the mixing and matching of the dogs worked out perfectly.
Doggie rearranging works out fine.
Tipper (four-year-old Shepherd mix) was introduced to big Great Pyrenees Tony the Pony, and amazingly to all of us, Tipper, who has been in a kennel by herself since breaking up with Tommy Tootles about a year ago because she became quite a grump with other dogs, liked Tony! So the Tips moved in with Tony, leaving her big kennel vacant for the three big puppy dogs, Hope, Hannah and Melissa, who moved in there. The pups had been in the smaller kennel by the trailer, and with the pups out of this kennel now, Angie will move in there. This will be Angie's new home until we find her her wonderful forever family.
We would like Angie to be a pampered house pet. If you would like to adopt Angie please call. 903/479-3497
If you would like to give Angie foster care in your home, please let us know.
*************
If you would like to adopt any of the wonderful dogs or puppies at our Happy Home for Strays, please call us for more information:
Pat and Bill, 903/479-3497
If you would like to give Foster Care to any of our new arrivals, please call.
**************
ONCE AGAIN: THE ONLY SOLUTION TO THIS STRAY DOG AND STRAY CAT PROBLEM IS FOR EVERYONE TO SPAY AND NEUTER THEIR PETS!
Thank all of you who continue to give your moral and financial support to our Happy Home for Strays. Your contributions enable us to continue to care for many abandoned, homeless dogs and puppies. Without your help this just wouldn't be possible. The dogs and pups thank you too!