Just before Christmas I asked the members of the Admin Team to put together their most memorable rescues. Whilst each and every one of the dogs touch my heart - some leave bigger paw prints. I am the founder and President of GSDs in Need and these are my most memorable rescues of 2014: Bobby or my Bobbadog - Bobby came from Mount Isa and we had tried to rescue him before. Luckily Bronwyn of Panskyli GSDs was following his progress and when he got into trouble again she helped get him down to us in Brisbane. Bobby had some nasty hotspots and some bite wounds - but I absolutely fell in love with his naughty and loving personality. He had a naughty twinkle in his eye that I will never forget. Bobby has adopted by Glen and Carol and is a much loved member of their family. I thought this picture of Mr September really summed up his personality and the fact that he now looks so good. Middy - those of you who know me know I absolutely adore black WL GSDs. Middy sadly was the first dog that I witnessed who urinated in fear. He did not like his collar touched and was very underweight and had neck, shoulder and leg injuries. We spent over $1000 in vet bills helping Middy to recover and he fitted in with all my other dogs perfectly - however if I had kept him I would not have been able to foster the others and he was adopted by a very experienced family. Whilst they may have had to prize the lead out of my hand so much was my love for this boy - I know that he went to the best possible home for him and that he is loved, cherished and adored. Sarge and Emily - I cant separate the two, whenever I think of Sarge I always think of Emily. Sarge was a free to a good home on Gumtree - however if his owner didnt think that the home was good enough due to his history of the most horrific abuse she said she would put him to sleep. Based on this statement we were not expecting to see Sarge in the neglected condition he was in when he arrived into our care. Emily had heard his story and wanted to foster him. Sarge was very fearful of men and had suffered eight years of the most horrific abuse. Emily and Nic nursed him back to health and helped him overcome his fear of men. For those of us lucky enough to have seen Sarge and Emily together - the love he has for her is so very special it is hard to put into words. Sadly Sarge is going blind but the bond he has with Emily and the trust he has in her means this is a disability he will easily overcome. Asha - I like to remember our Miss May as she was when she left us to go to the Bridge not how she was when she arrived. When I pick up a GSD the feeling I get from them all is I have been waiting for you - the feeling I got from Asha was What took you so long. Asha was the most emaciated dog we had seen at that time that was still alive. The smell of her rotting flesh from the mammary tumours that had got so bad they had burst will never leave me - but neither will her fighting spirit. I was faced with a terrible decision. We could operate and she was so emaciated she could die under anaesthetic or we could try IV antibiotics but she could still pass away. I chose surgery as at least that would not have been a lingering death and Asha defied us all - not only did she survive, keeping her quiet was the biggest issue. Asha stayed with me for the first couple of days post surgery but as she was highly dog reactive she recovered with Mason and then she met the people who would become her forever family and she celebrated with the ceremonial sacrifice of her teddy. Ashas forever foster family absolutely adored her as she did them. Whilst they spent less time in months than her original family spent in years the grief they felt when she passed was immense. Asha had multiple surgeries as we tried to get on top of the mammary tumours. We knew at the outset that we had got them too late and the cancer cells had most likely spread. It was utterly heartbreaking that ultimately Asha paid the ultimate price for her neglect with her life when the tumours finally spread to her spine and despite being referred to a specialist we had the devastating news from her MRI that the tumour on her spine was inoperable. Asha passed with all those who loved her surrounding her. Mason said his goodbyes and she passed in the arms of those who loved her the most with me holding her paw. I will never, ever forget our brave little warrior. She didnt want to leave but she couldnt fight any more and I will remember her always Zanta - possibly one of our most famous dogs. I remember meeting Zanta off transport and having to rush him up to the Wynnum Manly Vet Hospital as he had uncontrollable diarrhoea. Zanta had been very unwell in the pound and wed paid vet bills for him to go under a general anaesthetic to have his anal furunculosis treated - but upon a physical examination Dr Bob broke the news to me that Zanta had a huge mass inside him and we needed to have an xray. What showed up on the xray looked like stones but we actually found out it was dirt that Zanta had eaten as he was so hungry. Zanta was emaciated in addition to having anal furunculosis he also had pancreatitis and because his AF had gone untreated for so many years he had scarring to his anus making it extremely small and very painful for him to go to the toilet and he developed mega colon. No matter what we tried Zanta kept on getting blocked and had several surgeries to remove the blockages and then the vet told me that Zanta could not go through the rest of his life having two plus general anaesthetics a month to remove the blockages. We saw a specialist and upon hearing the high mortality rate and poor quality of life post surgery for dogs with mega colon we were faced with a terrible decision. Then after reading comments from followers as a last and desperate option we changed his diet to a raw food diet made by Dr B and the change was instantaneous. The rest is history and this picture means so much to me. It is of Zanta with Dr B of Dr Bs BARF. His story touched Dr Billingsworth so much he invited Zanta up to the Pet Barn Conference at Port Douglas to show Pet Barn Staff the benefits of his diet. Without Dr Bs BARF Zanta would not be alive today. There are other BARFs but they do not have the same formula. Zanta now lives with adoptive dad Phil about ten minutes away from me. There are lots of people who we have to thank for Zantas life - Dr Steven at the Wynnum Manly Veterinary Hospital, Dr B of Dr Bs BARF without whom Zanta would not be alive and to Zantas foster carer Evon and her family who fostered our special boy when I became unwell until he found his forever home. Rover - I just love this picture of Rover. Rover is yet another dog who ate stones in order to survive and ease his hunger. Rover has carpal laxity, he only had fur on his head and extreme muscle wastage. Rover was treated at the Wynnum Manly Veterinary Hospital and they were the ones who discovered that Rover was not absorbing his food due to the stones. Rover stayed with them for a couple of days. We put him on Black Hawk Fish and Potato and he began to gain weight. Rover stayed with Neville at Border River Pet Resort who lovingly nursed him back to health and our volunteers Kylie, Sherrill and her husband and Glen took Rover out, played with him and built his confidence. This picture means so much to me as he looks so happy - but most of all he had the strength finally to leap in the air with joy. Rex - I rescued Rex from a situation where his owner could barely take care of himself. Rex was emaciated and flea ridden. He was fostered by Ella and this picture says it all - from a severely neglected boy to a GSD who is laughing and so bonded with his carer that he became a failed foster and will stay with Ella - after seeing this picture - who could possibly break them up? Bear - I received the phone call from the shelter about Bear. Bear was taken there by his family to be PTS but the shelter staff just could not bring themselves to do it and asked his family to surrender him. They called us immediately and how could we say no? Bear was a forever foster - he had ongoing veterinary costs that we paid but most importantly of all Bear went from being a neglected boy is so much pain to possibly one of the most pampered and loved dogs in Australia. Whilst his time with his very loving family was months rather than years - Bear got to experience what it was like to be with a very loving family - a gift that this beautiful soul truly deserved and we are sure that he is at rainbow bridge with Asha as the they both made their journey within a day of one another. Maverick - Mav inspired my poem starting My legs begin to tremble as I anticipate a blow - this boy absolutely broke my heart but by the end of our journey he was gently nudging my shoulder. I dropped him off at Border River Pet Resort and Neville and our volunteers worked on building is confidence. After I dropped him off I am not ashamed to admit that I cried and wrote that poem in the car park of Border River Pet Resort with tears streaming down my face. Mav was adopted by one of the volunteers and is now a much loved family member. Barry now called Duke suffered the most terrible abuse you could imagine. If it were not for Jaye from Iron-Rock American Bulldogs he would not be alive today so extreme was his behaviour. Jaye could see the dog he truly was behind all the fear and I regard his rehabilitation one of our greatest successes but all down to one individual Jaye who advocated for him right from the start. Hope - this girl was broken. She would not make eye contact. She spent several days at the Wynnum Manly Veterinary Hospital and was lovingly cared for by Dawn. Hope became her constant companion and Dawn cared for her so beautifully - Hope finally knew what it was like to be loved after 10 long years. Sadly Hope is now at rainbow bridge but giving a neglected and abused senior dog the gift of love is one of the most special gifts we can give them no matter what our personal pain may be. And finally King - whilst King is a Belgian Malinois - the shelter contacted us as he was showing high levels of anxiety in the shelter. Naturally we rushed up and got him and King was the most loveable boy with extremely high drive. I remember taking him shopping at City Farmers and how he loved smelling everything and meeting people. We contacted the RAAF as we thought King was pretty special. He passed their initial tests and the rest is history. This picture of King is so different to the dog we picked up from the shelter I hardly recognised him - his body condition, muscle tone has improved but most of all he looks so very, very proud and we are the most proud of all that a rescue dog who was going to be PTS in the shelter for anxiety is now going to serve his country. I could fill the page with the GSDs who have made such an impact on my life in 2014. Whenever I pick them up I always get the sense that they were waiting for me. All I know is that they hop into the back of my car and by the end of the trip everyone that we meet think we have been boned for life. Whilst it can be very stressful and hard on the emotions seeing so many neglected and abused GSDs I visualise how they will be - how they will look in the future and the amazing home we will find for them. We can only do this thanks to you all - for your support, for those who contribute to our very high veterinary bills and to those who support our dogs by the click of the share button to help find them that perfect forever home. You are all as important as each and everyone of us on the admin team and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all. The German Shepherd, To Care for One is an Honour, To Rescue is Privilege
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 13:14:07 +0000
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