Saturday, February 28, 2009

This is Molly, a Basset Hound (look at those GORGEOUS EARS!). She is two years old.

Her owner brought her into my vet's office to be put down. She'd been hit by a car and her leg was broken. Her owner was unemployed and had just moved to Knoxville in search of work. He could barely afford to feed her, much less take care of her other needs.

Dr. Andrew at Gov. John Sevier Animal Clinic convinced the owner to sign Molly over to clinic so they could fix her and find her a good home. She's now recovering after surgery.

Isn't she just gorgeous? She's going to make someone a great friend. Here's a picture of her cast.

At Risk Intervention is pioneering a program to make sure the Mollys and Boomers of the world have a chance to live. No, we can't save them all. But with your help, we can put unused capacity to work to help save lives. Please consider a small donation to At Risk Intervention, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.

I've put up a donations page at First Giving. Enough is ENOUGH.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Enough is enough.


“Unless someone takes financial responsibility for him, the only thing I can offer is humane euthanasia.”

I never want to hear those words again.

The pup had been hit by a car. A Good Samaritan picked him up and took him to the nearest veterinary clinic. I happened to be there, picking up a rescue Airedale, and overhead the conversation.

No collar, no tags, no microchip. One vet tech said the pup looked familiar, that she’d seen him running loose.

I went out to the car to look at the dog. He was a hound mix of some sort. Young. In pain. We brought him in to the clinic and the staff stabilized him. It was late in the day. They didn’t want to keep him or treat further.

I took him to an emergency after hours clinic. The X-rays showed several serious breaks in his legs. Bruised lungs. Fractured pelvis. Broken tail. The X-rays showed he was probably less than a year old. You can see from his picture his nose was banged up, too. The clinic staff had given him a heavy dose of painkillers. He was okay. Right after this picture was taken, he licked my hand.

The estimate to help him was around six grand in surgery. They could not even attempt it until his lungs cleared some.

Nobody should die without a name. I named him Boomer and sat with him as he left the world. Then I wrote the check to the emergency clinic for the Xrays and euthanasia.

This is unacceptable. On so many levels. Please remember him.
I am going to put a stop to this. There is no reason for it. Enough is ENOUGH.