The tough ones

Lady

The most difficult rescues are the ones where you can't save the dog.  But even when the dog can't be saved, cured, rehabilitated, or re-homed, often we can still help the dog, even if it just means getting the dog out of a bad situation, providing some hospice care, or just a decent, quick, and merciful ending. 

Lady is one of these, sort of.  I can't fix her legs or make her young again, and I can't get her adopted, but we can give her a home here for as long as she can enjoy a decent quality of life.  That's not so tough, she's an easy dog to have around, but it's one more dog around the house, and generally underfoot.  The toughest part will be letting her go when the time comes.  That's what so many people say that they can't bear to do, but I find that it's easier than leaving the dog to die in the shelter where some assholes had dumped her because she had become a burden to them. 


Jessie

Jessie is another one.  She's with another VGSR foster home, not me.  She's a senior girl and she's got DM (degenerative myelopathy).  She had a malignant mammary tumor removed when she first came into rescue, but a few months later they were back in greater numbers.  In consultation with the vet and foster home the decision has been made to euthanize her, but she's enjoying a few days of extra spoiling and pain relief. 

I don't think it's wrong to take dogs in when we know they will be short-lived, unadoptable, and relatively expensive.  That's part of rescue.  We obviously can't take in every dog like this, or only dogs like this, or the rescue organization couldn't survive, but we also can't turn our backs on dogs most in need.  Dogs like this are a tough call from an intake perspective, and are tough on the foster home that does take them in.

Dixie

But the really tough ones are those like Dixie.  I was contacted a couple weeks back about a rottweiler living on a chain with some rural white trash in Cumberland County.  The woman who contacted me is with the Hows Project.   They are a group that provides dog houses, straw, and in some cases food and even medical care for "people" (I use the term loosely) who abuse their dogs through neglect.  Radix was another rottie I had taken in when this woman arranged for an owner to surrender his dog after years of borderline neglect.

I had offered to take Dixe but the owner backed out after being provided food and medical care for  his neglected, starved, and injured dog.  A couple days ago (SuperBowl Sunday, actually) the call came again; the dog was in worse condition, and the owner had finally agreed to surrender her.  Another volunteer made the trip to Cumberland to rescue the dog with plans to bring her to me.

When she got there she found that the dog was paralyzed, couldn't stand or walk, and had to be carried out on a blanket.  She took Dixie to an emergency vet and the decision was made to euthanize her. 

I never got to meet Dixie and I did nothing to help really except offer to take her in and recommend euthanization when she was found to be paralyzed with no real hope of recovery.  But Dixie was helped by the Hows Project and most importantly by the woman who picked her up, got her to the vet, and stayed with her to the end.  I really respect people on the frontlines, including shelter workers, who see and deal with horrific situations all the time.  I make every effort to avoid direct contact with the people they are forced to interact with every day in order to help their dogs.  It makes me feel like an armchair rescuer by comparison. 

The Hows Project is a great group of people who make a difference.  They can't do everything they'd like to do but that doesn't stop them from doing what they can to improve dogs' quality of life and hopefully, possibly, educating the ignorant along the way.  Check them out on Facebook, and their website:  http://www.housesofwoodandstraw.org/.