From Nancy Warner OK so you all remember this old fella from the other day! Its been an emotional 48 hours to say the least!. We wanted to give you all an update! Firstly, he is OUT of the shelter and we now have him in our care! When I first saw him in the below picture my heart skipped a beat. Not in a good way. But the fact that this poor sweet soul was in such deplorable condition at all and that at his ripe old age for whatever reason hed found himself forgotten and forsaken and waiting to die in a kill shelter. BLIND, confused and so very scared. I couldnt bear it. I was sick over it. When i tagged my wonderful rescue partners Mindy Kahlenberg Whisman and Samantha Grieves they of course felt the same way. Needless to say Mindy, as sick as she is, sprung into action and our wonderful foster mom Rachel stepped up without hesitation and of course all of Sammys help making the arrangements on such short notice to get him out and to the vet safely! And ALL in less than 24 hours !! Teamwork at its best !!! We were initially advised by the covering vet to euthanize him because he was in alot of pain and discomfort and told he likely would not be able to recover at his age from the absolutely horrible condition he was in from many years of neglect ! His hair is so matted that the vet couldnt even collect urine without shaving a spot because the urine doesnt flow through the matted hair. It was being filtered instead through the giant dreadlocked knots like a spongey pillow. His skin is urine stained, burned from urine and deeply infected in many spots from the filth and long time matts and knots. Years worth of them. He is totally BLIND and DEAF, his ears very infected, his back legs have no muscle at all and are weak and painful. His teeth are absolutely beyond repair and rotting out of his head. They are probably causing him the most pain of all. The vet suspected his kidneys were also failing. This poor dog has endured this for so many years and now the vet is telling us to put him to sleep without even trying to help him? And Well, you all know how well that went over with me right ? So needless to say I demanded that he get some PAIN MEDICATIONS first and foremost, then some actual diagnostics, bloodwork, exrays be done. Need to have some facts and actual results to base our decisions on right? Cause maybe, just maybe we CAN help him and just maybe with some work and optimism he could have some quality of life even for a little while? After a consult with our WONDERFUL amazing Vet, Dr Maniar here in NJ . The covering vet agreed to run some tests. While all this is going on and we are just praying he will BE OKAY and that we will be able to actually help him! Out of left field, we are contacted by someone in NC claiming to be his owners and saying that they love him and he is well taken care of but escaped his enclosure while they were away for the holiday ( Thats right, this old BLIND AND DEAF senior who needed serious medical attention and care, was left unsupervised and outside for days on end ALONE, while the family went on holiday !! Days later when they returned home they finally saw his picture on facebook and now they want him back? REALLY ?? Are these people serious? I gently educated them as to the REALITY of their beloved dogs desgusting condition, the level of blatant neglect required for him to reach this state and also apprised them on the current local, state and federal laws regarding animal cruelty. I also assured them that Lionel as we now call him will not be coming back but that from now on he will get the best of care, proper medical attention and the most quality of life he has ever known for the rest of his days on this earth! We arent sure how bad he is yet or if he will survive. BUT The one thing I am sure of is that he wont be going back there !! This morning, GOOD NEWS ! His bloodwork came back and he is more stable then he appeared. So guess what ? He has a fighting chance!! Some hope that we really can help him feel better. It wont be easy and we certainly have our work cut out for us but we just know he has some fight left in him and we beleive he can do it !!! Once he is stable he will need to undergo anesthesia to have his dental disease addressed and his coat will be shaved down so his skin can be treated and finally heal. He will need long term medications for the skin, infections and pain. We are so glad to have an opportunity to help this beautiful soul and all we can hope is that he can find his way back to health. And that before his time is over, he will know nothing but real comfort, pure joy and unconditional love in the last but very best chapter of his life!! Right now he is still at the vet getting the critical medical care he needs. Once he is stable enough he will be moved into foster and will continue getting treatment from the vet and at home to feel better each day! We will keep you all posted on his progress! Paws crossed for Lionel!! If you wish to help us help Lionel by donating to his medical care, it would be greatly appreciated! Every dollar counts! You can donate via paypal here: thelastresortrescue/howyoucanhelp.htm We cannot think of a better way to welcome the beginning of another new year here at The Last Resort Rescue then to start it of with helping Lionel !!! We you Lionel !
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 03:34:04 +0000
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