In early October, Emily was brought into a shelter in Miami, Florida nearly lifeless. When Emily arrived at the shelter, she was given just 24 hours to live and was thought to be paralyzed. The 7-year-old chow-mix could not lift her head, nor could she even stand up on her own. The skeletal dog would be humanely euthanized because of her pitiful state of health, unless a rescue organization stepped in. Thats when Dakota and Friends Rescue, hundreds of miles away in Michigan, came on in to save Emily. They immediately found out that Emily was not paralyzed. She was just too weak and starved with body temperatures under 98 degrees (should be between 101.5 and 102.5 normally) that her kidneys and most of her brain had almost completely shut down. She also had thousands of fleas, hundreds of tick nests, ticks the size of grapes living in her skin, severe eye and ear infections, ear mites, several skin infections and bacterial pneumonia. Immediately, the rescue organization put her on 24-hour oxygen, IV fluids and antibiotics. While she has gained almost 9 pounds since October, Emily is battling even more critical complications due to the abuse and neglect she has had to endure. After a battery of tests, Emily now faces a stomach mass, almost 3 inches by 3 inches, attached to her stomach wall that needs to be surgically removed immediately. She is also being currently being treated for a bleeding stomach ulcer. And, Emily has permanent damage to her heart (3rd degree AV Heart Block with hypertension) that requires pacemaker surgery (her only option at a normal life span and energy). Despite suffering from starvation, a weak heart, a bleeding ulcer and a huge stomach tumor, Emily has proven to be a fighter and wants to...
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 22:53:25 +0000