Favorite Rescue Stories and Pictures

3 of my favorite stories. These events occurred during the years I worked as staff veterinarian at a local high kill shelter.

1. Early one morning one of the field officers returned with a cardboard box found on the side of the road. Inside the box I found a little dog that was so matted and dirty that I couldn't tell which end was which. Upon closer examination I found her face; the forehead was teaming with literally hundreds of wiggling maggots. I had never seen anything like it. I was horrified.

I just couldn't stand the thought of euthanizing her right away,  I just couldn't bear the thought that she would have to leave this earth feeling so horribly miserable. I had to give her a chance, although I had no idea if the damage was reparable.

I sedated her right away, and went about the task of removing the maggots.  The  wound was gaping, extensive; tissue from her forehead was eaten away almost to the bone. There was no way to sew the wound shut. So I cleaned it up as best I could, gave her a whopping dose of antibiotics, and put her back in the little box.

I took her home with me that night (and every night for a week) and, disgusted and again horrified, the next moring I saw that the wound was once again filled with teaming maggots.

I repeated the cleaning procedure again, and prayed.

The next morning NO more maggots! And within a week's time, with daily doses of antibiotic and what little wound cleaning she would tolerate, the wound was virtually completely healed. New tissue had filled in the huge hole, the skin had almost completely grown back together. It was just unbelievable. Once the hair grew back on her forehead you could not tell that there had ever been such a wound on her.

Once I shaved her down and cleaned her up, I found underneath all the mess a beautiful blcack and white shih tzu, and maybe just a year old. She had all the charm and endearing qualities that this breed is known for. She was soon adopted into a wonderful family, and quickly became queen of the household.

I had nicknamed her (sorry for this!) "maggot head" and called her "maggie". Once she had settled into her new home, her name was altered just a bit. Princess Mary Margaret, I believe. Something like that which reflected how beloved she was and how she became the center of the family.  Is this what makes rescue rewarding? I think so.

2. While cruising through the female kennel, I spotted an adorable little thing that looked as best I could tell, a young, full blooded yorkie. I reached in and grabbed her up, thinking what an excellent candidate for an adopter or rescue group.

My heart sank when, upon closer examination, she was an older little girl, worse than that she had two or 3 breast tumors. Still, I felt she may have a shot with one of the rescue groups, so I "hid" her in my office to keep her from being euthanized while I searched for a place for her.

And it didn't take that long to find one that would take her.  This is the best part: the lady that fostered her had 3 other little yorkies. When she took her to get spayed and to have the tumors removed and biopsied, the tumors turned out to be benig! The foster mom fell in love with her, and she became great buddies with the other yorkies. So, the foster mom decided to adopt her. She sent me pictures of this little girl, about 6 months later, and with glowing reports about this special little girl.

You just never know what you can do to change a life until you try.....

3. will do this later.