Post by Aussienot on Apr 5, 2007 22:05:12 GMT -5
This week's story concerns a yellow male Labrador. Sunday evening as three of us were walking out the door for home, the Bat phone rang. A council officer had picked up a stray dog that witness said had been struck in the head by an SUV. The dog was hurt, scared and uncatchable. Could we come out an help?
We were exhausted, hungry, thirst, short-handed, and the tired vet had sensibly gone home an hour earlier. One van needs new tires, the other has no air conditioning and sputters on acceleration. However, it was a dog in need, so heart ruled head.
He was easy to find in the dark; but a bugger to catch, and he was pretty snappy and defensive. We were slightly worried for our own safety. I suppose I wouldn't be so charming either after having a tank hit my head and a catching pole around my neck. Worse yet, bright red blood was pouring from his nose.
When we got him into the van, different dog. He seemed to understand that we were trying to help. Ice pack on the nose? No worries. Turn your head this way? Ok - is this good?. Flashlight in the eyes? Well, if you have to. Tummy rub? Yes please.
He was clearly in pain and in obvious distress, but couldn't have been a sweeter or more cooperative patient. Back at the clinic, a pain relief shot turn him to jello, damaged, loving bleeding jello. We could stem the bleeding with ice; but as soon as we removed the ice pack and he moved his head the bleeding started again. After a phone consult with the vet, we took him to an expensive overnight clinic for a cat scan and observation. We were really concerned about possible brain damage and internal bleeding.
Fortunately, two days later he was back at the Shelter and none the worse for wear. Legally he should be delivered to the council pound as a stray; but the officer involved on the night was happy to/strong-armed into surrendering him to us for re-recuperation. I had invested money in his care and I wasn't giving up up possession without a fight.
To my eye, he's a well bred and very handsome young male Lab. He sits and drops and does not pull on the lead. He retrieves beautifully. He is calm and gentle, not the usual rowdy monster we see in year old male Labs. I have named him Mason.
Someone probably paid a lot of money for him as a puppy, put the time into training and treated him well. But they did not microchip as is the law, and did not neuter, and did not bother to keep in secure. We have registered him as a found dog with all the local services and websites. We will keep him for the required 21 days, and then he will have no problem getting adopted.
One other great thing was the return of a stolen dog. During our Christmas with the Animals event, there were 400 people with their pets at the Shelter, as well as people looking to adopt. There was one young man looking at a brown and white Jack Russel Terrier puppy named Benji. Several of us saw him with the puppy. David, the attendant who was helping the customer got momentarily distracted, and the man chose that minute to walk out the front gate with the dog. David had only been in the job a few months, and was gutted when he discovered the theft, and we were all disappointed to be humans for a while.
We marked the microchip as stolen, and reported the incident to police. And kind of forgot about it. Four months later, Benji was found wandering by a council ranger, and since the pound was closed, he took the dog to a vet clinic. Which lead to a phone message about a dog that was stolen from us . . . He's in good shape, and appears to be happy to be back. Another one that should be easy to place. David is particularly delighted.
I received a request from a poor council in the sparsely inhabited south west of us who want to have all of their adopted pound dogs desexed, vaccinated and micro-chipped at a low cost.This is pig dog, farm dog, disposible dog country, and overall standards of companion dog care are pretty low. The Rangers are keen to improve the lot of dogs in their care, and that's a good thing.
I am also working with one of the local rescue groups who has lost accreditation to remove from the pound to get their dogs from us. Our dogs are guaranteed healthy and temperament tested to a standard. The rescue group can avoid the sympathy problems towards un-rehomable dogs that got them in trouble originally. (You know the thinking - any life is better than death).
At first I was a little defensive about giving up my good adoptable dogs to someone else; but being in a foster home is way better than sitting in a kennel, and if it leads to more dogs getting forever homes, who cares who gets glory? Just to make sure no dogs miss out, I will be the one saving potentially adoptable dogs from the pound. We have a good relationship with them, and they alert us to their best dogs anyway.
Cheers.
We were exhausted, hungry, thirst, short-handed, and the tired vet had sensibly gone home an hour earlier. One van needs new tires, the other has no air conditioning and sputters on acceleration. However, it was a dog in need, so heart ruled head.
He was easy to find in the dark; but a bugger to catch, and he was pretty snappy and defensive. We were slightly worried for our own safety. I suppose I wouldn't be so charming either after having a tank hit my head and a catching pole around my neck. Worse yet, bright red blood was pouring from his nose.
When we got him into the van, different dog. He seemed to understand that we were trying to help. Ice pack on the nose? No worries. Turn your head this way? Ok - is this good?. Flashlight in the eyes? Well, if you have to. Tummy rub? Yes please.
He was clearly in pain and in obvious distress, but couldn't have been a sweeter or more cooperative patient. Back at the clinic, a pain relief shot turn him to jello, damaged, loving bleeding jello. We could stem the bleeding with ice; but as soon as we removed the ice pack and he moved his head the bleeding started again. After a phone consult with the vet, we took him to an expensive overnight clinic for a cat scan and observation. We were really concerned about possible brain damage and internal bleeding.
Fortunately, two days later he was back at the Shelter and none the worse for wear. Legally he should be delivered to the council pound as a stray; but the officer involved on the night was happy to/strong-armed into surrendering him to us for re-recuperation. I had invested money in his care and I wasn't giving up up possession without a fight.
To my eye, he's a well bred and very handsome young male Lab. He sits and drops and does not pull on the lead. He retrieves beautifully. He is calm and gentle, not the usual rowdy monster we see in year old male Labs. I have named him Mason.
Someone probably paid a lot of money for him as a puppy, put the time into training and treated him well. But they did not microchip as is the law, and did not neuter, and did not bother to keep in secure. We have registered him as a found dog with all the local services and websites. We will keep him for the required 21 days, and then he will have no problem getting adopted.
One other great thing was the return of a stolen dog. During our Christmas with the Animals event, there were 400 people with their pets at the Shelter, as well as people looking to adopt. There was one young man looking at a brown and white Jack Russel Terrier puppy named Benji. Several of us saw him with the puppy. David, the attendant who was helping the customer got momentarily distracted, and the man chose that minute to walk out the front gate with the dog. David had only been in the job a few months, and was gutted when he discovered the theft, and we were all disappointed to be humans for a while.
We marked the microchip as stolen, and reported the incident to police. And kind of forgot about it. Four months later, Benji was found wandering by a council ranger, and since the pound was closed, he took the dog to a vet clinic. Which lead to a phone message about a dog that was stolen from us . . . He's in good shape, and appears to be happy to be back. Another one that should be easy to place. David is particularly delighted.
I received a request from a poor council in the sparsely inhabited south west of us who want to have all of their adopted pound dogs desexed, vaccinated and micro-chipped at a low cost.This is pig dog, farm dog, disposible dog country, and overall standards of companion dog care are pretty low. The Rangers are keen to improve the lot of dogs in their care, and that's a good thing.
I am also working with one of the local rescue groups who has lost accreditation to remove from the pound to get their dogs from us. Our dogs are guaranteed healthy and temperament tested to a standard. The rescue group can avoid the sympathy problems towards un-rehomable dogs that got them in trouble originally. (You know the thinking - any life is better than death).
At first I was a little defensive about giving up my good adoptable dogs to someone else; but being in a foster home is way better than sitting in a kennel, and if it leads to more dogs getting forever homes, who cares who gets glory? Just to make sure no dogs miss out, I will be the one saving potentially adoptable dogs from the pound. We have a good relationship with them, and they alert us to their best dogs anyway.
Cheers.