My turn for a hug your fur babies...

My wife and I do some rescue work with a local shelter and while we were visiting one day we ended up part of a rescue operation where we went out to a property to retrieve a German Sheppard.

I'll short story it:  The dog had spent the better portion of his life abandoned at a property the owner didn't live at, tied to a post in the center of the yard to a lead that probably measured the length of your arm span at best.  The owner told us the dog was fed rice.  (In a tone that suggested that was all the dog was fed, and also that the owner didn't think that there was anything wrong with that).

We immediately took custody and cleaned him up.  When we did we found a silver dollar size wound completely through the skin on his chest along with a few other scabbed over sores.  (there were maggots, it was disgusting)

We took him into our place, and fostered him back to health but there was an incident with between him and the eldest (aged 6yrs) one day that meant he couldn't stay with us.  Since he was healed up, healthy, and happy the shelter took back custody and worked on finding him a home.

That was just more than a few months ago.  Yesterday we got news that the shelter took him to the vet because he wasn't eating again.  It's lung cancer and vet estimates his remaining lifespan in days.

So hug your fur babies please.  Because there's a dog named Hermes that never got his family...

(Some photos from back at our place)

And our last visit, today


 

I'm so sorry to hear that.  Even if you couldn't find Hermes a family, getting him into a foster and then a decent shelter was a better way for him to spend the last bit of his life than tied to a post and forgotten.  Dozer, Apollo, and River will get some extra scritches.

We’ve fostered and adopted rescues for years. Even if they don’t make it I always feel good that they had a loving home at the end of their lives. 

This is our latest. She appears to be loving life now.

Damn, that's tough but glad you were able to give him a bit of the good life. We grabbed Kimi right before Christmas who was a city stray and will get a few more throws of the ball and head scratches this evening.

Sorry to hear that, Bill.  But at least he won't die alone and unloved chained to a post.

Sad to hear about Hermes, no dog should have to live like that. 

I picked up a rescue puppy over the holiday break.  Unfortunately, he had a really bad case of Parvo.  I've had dogs my entire life and had never heard of this horrid, deadly disease.   If I knew then what I know now, I never would have adopted a puppy before it's 3rd round of shots.   Instead poor little Walter spent 5 days in intensive care, and very nearly died.   He's home now, and almost totally recovered.   He's not meeting anyone, or any other dog until he's had his final shots though.   Parvo is the devil.

In reply to Hungary Bill :

I'm sorry. Thank you for doing what you could for Hermes. I'm glad he got in some better times.

I’m sorry to hear that. He was absolutely beautiful once his coat grew back.  I will give my boys some extra love for you. 

Who is cutting up all these damn onions. 

Sounds like you guys gave him an awesome shot at a new life, however short it may have been.

Good boy Hermes. Good dog...

All my fur babies have been rescues, I am a sucker for dogs and cats. Everyone got a good round of treats and skritches tonight. Sorry to hear about Hermes' diagnosis, but know that his life was made better because of your love. It's all you can give and it's really all they want. 

Man I’m sorry to hear that.  We end up with a lot of ‘pets with needs’.  The current  one is a kitty with congestive heart failure that needs meds twice a day.  We also just lost a great pup to cancer.  It’s tough,  but someone has to help these animals and we just enjoy the time we have with them.

Sorry for your loss. It’s heartbreaking not to be able to save them all. 

Hermes may not have gotten his permanent family, but sounds like he got one heck of a foster home.  Thanks for your efforts to assist with rescue animals and fostering.  I'm sure you had a very positive impact on his life. :)

Thanks everyone.  It's tough to see the rug yanked out from under Hermes when he was so close to the finish line, but your posts are making me feel better.

He mightn't have gotten the best start, but at least he got a pretty good end. Poor guy

Wow, this was a really tough one.

I have to admit, sometimes I need to skip these posts. It can be a little bit much to handle, especially this time of year.

For some reason there is a surge in euthanasias at the holidays. Two today, two on Wednesday, four in one day a couple days before Christmas. 

We never do them unless it's justified for the pet, so they're not "convenience" euthanasias.

You gave Hermes a chance at happiness which he never would have had, and earned a whole lot of good karma. Keep up the great work!

In reply to Floating Doc :

Doc, I could never do what you do.  It has to be a weight.

Cotton said:

In reply to Floating Doc :

Doc, I could never do what you do.  It has to be a weight.

What gets me through it is this: if it's not fair to the pet, any discussion of euthanasia is off the table. 

The worst I've ever been cussed at as a vet was when I refused to put down a cat because the people were getting divorced.

They were both there, so it wasn't a situation where one party was going to do it to "punish" the other. They were enraged; I just smiled back at them, pointed at the door, and walked away.

Lucky for me, I have a very thick skin. My profession is number one for suicides.

Thinking about My Yoshi, He Passed Last Year, Chewy Is acting like yo yo did before he passed so I guess he's next,  I Put All My Love into my animals, Weather It's your pet or mine It Tears at my soul To Lose one,

                                                                                                                                                         Peace.

Man it's dusty in here. Giving Bear some extra scratches as I type this.

In reply to Joe Gearin :

We picked up a ParvoPup on Jan 2nd.  We've also had dogs/been around dogs/have vet friends and didn't realize how contagious or how serious it was.  Apparently we are not allowed to have puppies in our house, yard, or car for 1 year and whenever we leave the house, we spray our shoes with a 30:1 bleach mix.  We were fortunate in that our pup was 6 months old and 52 pounds, so we were able to treat him at home and he is all but better now.  We were told to expect mild relapses and occasional bloody stools for the next few months as he rebuilds his intestinal lining.  If you had to hospitalize him, I can only imagine what the vet bill wound up being!  Our estimate for hospitalization was 60% of a Challenge car and that was only for 4 days and the vet is my mom's cousin.  Thanks for giving Walter a chance!

Here's a picture our own derptastic pup, Dozer: