Straydog UPDATE posted WEDNESDAY 6/18/03 at ~9:47 p.m. CT

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

WEDNESDAY JUNE 18 2003

Shannon, who's taking care of trips to and from the vet clinic for us, rescues two dogs from being shot!

As reported by Shannon:

     I was dropping off one of my own dogs at Morton Small Animal Clinic on the way to help out at Straydog this morning, and I was intending to pick up some medicines for some of the dogs at Straydog.

     Ten minutes after I left the vet, I realized I'd forgotten the medicines. At first I thought I would just get the medicine when I returned for our 3:00 appointment for Misty's allergy injection, but for some reason I decided to turn around.

     When I walked back into the clinic, there was a man standing at the counter speaking to the receptionist, who was yelling at the man, "That's just stupid talk. You don't shoot dogs when they have fleas!"

     I interrupted to ask who was shooting dogs. The man then told me his story:

     Two German Shepherd mixes had come onto his property recently. He had begun to feed them, so, of course, they stuck around. (DUH!) He then discovered they had fleas. He said he could not let his three-year-old son get bitten by fleas, so the dogs had to go. The receptionist explained that there were many flea preventives available. The man said, "I've spent money on those things before, and they don't work. I'm not doing that again." He explained that he had called the sheriff, who said once you feed the dogs, they are considered your dogs. The man told the sheriff that that wasn't acceptable. The sheriff replied that the only way to get rid of the dogs was to shoot them. (A Note from Bill: This must be the same sheriff Pat called several years ago to report that some kids were shooting pellet guns at mockingbirds. The sheriff told Pat then that shooting mockingbirds is okay because they don't have a restricted hunting season.)

     The man had come to the vet to see if they could give him a tranquilizer because he only has one gun, and he was afraid the second dog would run after he shot the first. He also said he had only a .22, "so it might take more than one bullet for each dog."

     Further, the man wanted to know if he could bring the bodies of the dogs to the vet so he wouldn't have to dig a hole.

     Although I wanted to scream, I very calmly asked the man if he could bring the dogs here to Morton's Clinic so I could try to find them homes. He said they resist and run away when he's tried to leash them. He snapped, "If I could have got them on leashes, they'd already be at the pound!"

     Then I asked the man if he could give me directions to his house so I could pick up the dogs. He suddenly became friendly (as he foresaw the resolution to his problem), and he very happily wrote down directions to his place.

     I then wanted to make sure the man wouldn't shoot me if I went onto his property to get the dogs. Before he definitively told me no, he wrote down his phone number and told me to call first. That's when I decided I would ask Guy (Straydog's general manager) to come with me.

     When I called later to tell the man we would come get the dogs before five o'clock (so they could be taken straight to the vet as all Straydog newcomers are), the man said it would be better for us to come earlier. It turns out he was trying to shoot the dogs and get rid of the bodies before his son came home from pre-school. He didn't want us taking the dogs away in front of his son. "The kid loves animals, but he sure won't love being bit by fleas," the man said.

     When we drove through the man's gate, the dogs ran up to the car to greet me and Guy. We got out, and they showered us with kisses. Guy tried putting a leash on the male, and he cried. But both dogs let us pick them up, so we just put them into the car.

     I knocked on the man's door to tell him we'd gotten the dogs and would be on our way. He was stunned and asked how we got them in the car. I replied we simply picked them up. He looked at me as though I was now contaminated.

     He then offered the half bag of dog food (that he had stopped feeding to them since he discovered they had fleas), some out-of-date vaccines his sister gave him, and a $25 donation.

     We appreciate his donation, but what a monster!

     The female (no name yet) rode in my lap as Guy drove. Her male companion (who appears to be neutered though "the man" hadn't had it done) wagged his tail as we pet and spoke gently to him. They are two of the sweetest dogs I've ever seen.

A report from Erin - the first part from last night and the second part from today:

Very interesting phone call from a man named Vic in New Jersey on Tuesday followed up by a second call today

     A fellow called yesterday (Tuesday) saying that he was looking for rescue groups in Texas to help out a dog whom his friend in Texas had recently saved from a dog fight. The dog, who is now at a vet in Wichita Falls, was very badly mauled, but they couldn't even put stitches in the gaping wounds due to possible infection. No rescue groups will take injured dogs, Vic said.

     Dogs no one else would take were the kinds of dogs Pat would try to take in if at all possible, we told Vic, though our indoor hospital kennel and all the other kennels are full right now.

     I asked how Vic's friend could possibly have broken up the fight without getting hurt herself. Vic said the 5'2" woman had called him and that she had been afraid to break up the fight but that they had been 'prayer partners' for 16 years, and though separated by a great distance, they prayed together and she went in with a stick and did actually scare away the three dogs attacking the poor terribly injured chow mix!

     The vet in Wichita Falls is giving this lady a discount (I think she is out of work at present), but the hospital bill is adding up daily. After hearing about our shelter and Mom having just died recently and how our vet bill is above $7,000 now, Vic said his vet bill was nothing compared to that, and he'd like to donate to us! We said, NO, just help this doggie, we will help the dog too if we can. "So, let's keep in touch,Vic!" And I asked him to please let us know how the doggie is doing! Bless you,Vic, for caring enough to call and call and call all around to try to find help for the poor dog. Bless ALL of those kind people like my mom, who keep trying and trying to find help for (and spaying and neutering) all the strays they come across: the feral ones, the hurt, neglected, abandoned, abused or just plain lost, stray dogs (and cats).

Today Vic called again with some good news

     Vic called again today to tell me that he had prayed all night for that torn up dog his praying partner had taken to the vets. Then he heard today that the vet had decided keep the dog himself. The vet will first get the dog to feeling and looking better, (he looks kind of 'Stephen Kingish' were the words Vic said the vet had used). Then the vet will see if his mother will want the dog and if not, the vet will add the dog to his own family. Wow. Vic said he'd continue to pray for us too. Thank you Vic!

A further report from Shannon after a trip to the vet this afternoon with three dogs:

Blackie:

     Anal glands impacted and infected. They expressed his glands then flushed them with antibiotics. Recommendation: anal glands squeezed more often (every one-two months) No further medications necessary. Watch and feel the glands for impaction.

Misty:

     All is well. Dr. Morton does not charge to give Misty her allergy shots, and he said he'd like to continue to do them to monitor her since it's possible Misty could have a life-threatening reaction to the allergy shot, which the doctor would have to treat with an antidote.

Bobby:

     Bobby's been holding his right hind leg up all day today, so I took him to the vet clinic too, and Dr. Morton took X-rays, which showed his right hip was pretty bad, but the reason for the limping is not the hip. The vet thinks Bobby has a cruciate ligament tear (like Emily and Susie before her, et al.) in addition to a misaligned patella (kneecap). Bobby's kneecap shifts inward (he had surgery for this condition on his left knee in 2000). These two problems combined are causing a lot of pain for Bobby. He will remain on pain medicine until his surgery, which is the only way to correct these problems.