Scout

One of our local Boy Scouts troop had a popcorn pick up at the Lutheran Church on Northwest Highway several weeks ago. A sweet female dog was found behind a shed, with a hurt back leg and eyes watering so badly that she could barely keep them open. Lisa and Karen, who attended the event and have true hearts of gold, tried to get the dog to come out from under the shed. This did not work out too well, so they came back later when there was not so much commotion and finally got her out, coaxing her with food and treats (boy was she hungry!). They took her to the vet to find out what could be done about her medical problems. Since they found her during the popcorn pick up, they named her “Scout”.

After taking her to the vet (and visiting her every day), they learned that her watering eyes were caused by entropian eyelid, which is when the eyelids roll inward and the bottom eyelashes are constantly hitting the actual eye. Scout had surgery for this problem and came through it very well.

Scout has been fostered by Lisa, one of the women who rescued her. She’s very sweet and playful and one happy dog. She loves to play with another of Lisa's dogs and also likes the cats. In fact, she fit into the family so well that Lisa has decided to adopt her.
Thanks to Karen and Lisa, this hungry, hurting, frightened dog is now healthy and happy in a very loving home!

Baby's Neighborhood Story (11/9/06)

Yesterday afternoon, my teenage neighbor from across the street came by in her PaPa John's car...I told her we didn't order pizza, but it turned out she had seen a pitbull puppy being dumped at the school yard on Flicker and rescued it. Since she had to go to work, I took the dog. But with some sort of skin rash, I was reluctant to put her in with other animals and kept her in my yard, hoping the girl would come back to help, but she never did. Meanwhile, after consulting with my new helper Jennifer, we decided we should find out if it was really mange or not. I called the vet, looked up on the internet different types of mange, and put out a Petwatch Found (dumped) email.

Meanwhile, Baby had made herself quite at home in my backyard.. But first I had to tie her up with a long leash on an old short inactive gas pole we have used many times for this purpose, since my yard isn't secure. However, Baby had other ideas, getting herself wrapped around the picnic table, the tree, and lastly the pole itself. By then, I had moved the picnic table and everything else I could around her. So since that obviously didn't work, I decided to try blocking all the gaps under our gates and somehow got her loose from literally tieing herself to the pole. She loved running all around the yard and really thought that was great. Since she seemed kinda "clueless", I thought maybe I had fully secured the yard, and left her to play.

Next thing I know my 9 yr. old son (special needs who used to be so scared of dogs) is so attracted to the dog, he goes out on his own to play with her.. She ran around then jumped on him pushing him down and scratching (by accident) in the process. Course now I am a worried mommy as I had read that some of mange is contagious to humans! So I call the vet again (this is about 5:30 and the dog has only been here since 4:30) and she assures me my son will be ok and that we just need to wash the scratches and that it doesn't spread thru the claws. Surprisingly, my son still loved to play with the dog and wouldn't stay away from her, but was a lot more careful.

Finally thinking everything was okay and letting "Baby" play outside happily and quietly, shortly after dusk, I get a knock on the door with a walker who had "found" Baby who apparently had escaped my yard. ARF! So here I go again.. Obviously not secure, unsure about letting her in the house with a rash, seemed too hot and crowded in the garage, I call my next door neighbor who have a large 6 ft. kennel that they had offered in the past for Petwatch and no longer used for their dog. Even though it was dark by now, they so nicely said we could borrow it. I sent my husband over, begged the back door teenage boys who were outside anyway to help and we all put together the kennel in my backyard. Baby enjoyed all the attention and the neighbor was possibly interested in adopting her too, but only after more info gathered from a vet.

So Baby ended up in the kennel, but still cried, so I called up Rita, who was storing our medium/large dog crate and asked her tor bring it over when she got home.. By now it was after 9pm. Rita did bring it over around 10pm, I took it out to Baby, but she preferred to be with people, and didn't settle down for a long time. I hope my neighbors weren't too upset, but since more than half were involved in this particular animal rescue, I think they understood!

This morning I let Baby play again out in yard and she escaped again. Luckily she came running back to me from way down the street. She and I had a nice long walk on the leash and had breakfast together outside. She rode well in the car to the vet, though definitely didn't want to go in there. She met a poodle up there and was friendly and submissive to the other small dog. Thank goodness for Lindley Vet who gave advice and treatment options for her.

Let's just hope Baby finds a good home soon, maybe even right next door!

karen

After I wrote the above story, I kept Baby several more days and she relaxed and got used to her temporary shelter and I showed her to my son's bus driver. And a few days later Mr. E told me he would like to adopt Baby. Late one afternoon we said goodbye to Baby as she took off for her new home. She got to ride the school bus! She is doing well and since we see Mr. E every day, we get frequent reports on her. She loves her new doggy siblings and new family.

"Finnegan" the Squirrel

For about as long as she can remember, Debby Cantlon says, friends and strangers have brought her animals in need. So it wasn't much of a surprise when someone asked her if she'd care for a newborn squirrel found at the base of a tree somewhere near Renton.



Debby Cantlon, who plans to release Finnegan, the young squirrel, back into the wild, bottle-fed the infant squirrel after it was brought to her house. Cantlon, who has cancer, says rescuing injured animals is therapeutic for her.



When Cantlon took in the tiny creature and began caring for him, she found herself with an unlikely nurse's aide: her pregnant Papillon, Mademoiselle Giselle.





Finnegan was resting in a nest in a cage just days before Giselle was due to deliver her puppies.






Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog dragged the squirrel's cage - twice - to her own bedside before she gave birth.





Cantlon was concerned, yet ultimately decided to allow the squirrel out - and the inter-species bonding began.







Finnegan rides a puppy mosh pit of sorts, burrowing in for warmth after feeding, and eventually working his way beneath his new litter mates.







Two days after giving birth, mama dog Giselle allowed Finnegan to nurse; family photos and a videotape show her encouraging him to suckle alongside her litter of five pups.




Now, Finnegan mostly uses a bottle, but still snuggles with his "siblings" in a mosh pit of puppies, rolling atop their bodies and sinking in deeply for a nap.





Finnegan and his new litter mates, five Papillion puppies, get along together as if they were meant to.






Finnegan naps after feeding.





Finnegan makes himself at home with his new litter mates, nuzzling nose-to-nose for a nap after feeding.

Sasha

Sasha (by Karen Briggs)

I began receiving calls about a black stray dog, a possible Sheltie mix, on Sunday, July 9th, around 10:00 a.m. The caller was unable to contain the dog, though she did offer it food and water. The second call came later that evening around 6 o’clock from yet another location. This time the animal was described as a medium-sized, long hair mix, possibly part Labrador, but definitely female, wearing a collar with tags. She was very skittish, not allowing this concerned resident near her. The resident left food out and called Animal Control, fearing the dog might be ill.

On Monday, July 10th, Animal Control had not yet caught this elusive canine, and I received another call from a different resident on still another street. I dutifully wrote the description of a small black mix dog wearing a collar with tags. The resident said the dog was “baying” and must be ill. She also called Animal Control. If only someone could get close to her to see the tags!

Monday night, I took a step further, calling on one of our pet program’s volunteers to help. We were dubbed the “Pet Patrol” by one resident as we asked about the dog and took a walk with lead in hand, hoping to find the distressed stray. Animal Control hadn’t caught up with her, and the dog was still reportedly “baying.” However, when my “animal rescuer/pet foster mom” volunteer helper and I were looking, she was nowhere around, though there was evidence that neighbors had tried to feed her. After traversing the alleys and streets, I finally suspected that the three dog reports were actually the same dog. This was confirmed the next day when our crime watch coordinator called with the next part of the story.

While we were looking on one street, the dog was meeting new friends over on another, where she had spotted much needed water and a young child that no doubt reminded her of her owner’s grandchildren. This family’s dogs actually helped contain Sasha by luring her into their backyard. The resident, with flashlight in hand, coaxed and cajoled for two hours until 11:30 p.m., and finally won her trust enough to get a look at her tags.

Tuesday morning, July 11th, the resident looked up the vet number on the tags and called and found the owner! The lady was overjoyed, as she had given up on locating her beloved pup. Sasha, a Chow/Spitz mix, had been frightened by firecrackers on July 2nd and had run off.

When she didn’t return, the owner put up signs and continually checked with Animal Control. Sasha had been gone for 9 days and had crossed at least three major thoroughfares, ending up in our neighborhood. She was exhausted, yet so happy to see her master that in thanks and relief, this once skittish dog leaped into her rescuer’s arms as well! The neighbor says it was such a special moment that it made all the efforts worthwhile. Sasha’s owner cried with joy to see her pet and is so thankful Sasha was found.

Sasha may have been sideswiped by a car in her travels; she had a sore paw but no broken bones. One thing is for sure, she certainly had an amazing adventure!

What everyone needs to learn from this story is that one never knows when an animal will take off or how far it will go. If Sasha had not been wearing her tags, chances are she would never have returned home.

Animal Control was called twice about her, though they were unsuccessful in catching her. If they had picked her up, they would have been able to locate her owners with the tags. An animal of the City of Dallas Animal Control without tags is euthanized in three days if no one claims or adopts it. Our neighborhood policy is to refer sick and dangerous animals to Animal Control, as we do not want anyone to be hurt or bitten by a stray.