In Good Times and Bad

Have an update on the dog named Opossum.  The sweet girl was found in a ditch around Christmas time.  It was snowy and cold and it looked like she had been hit by a car.  She was a small dog, cold and lonely.  Some caring citizen found her and called the police station where they were just told to leave her till Wednesday and the ACO would pick her up.  (The poor dog would NOT have suvived out in the cold on her own that long).  The people made some other phone calls and another caring compassionate citizen took her in.  She was dubbed "Opossum". 

You could tell she was in rough shape.  She had tumors all over her stomach, she had some kind of injury on her head that caused one of her eyes to bulge out a little, and her teeth needed to be pulled.  Her medical bills were going to amount to quite a bit. 

Thankfully many wonderful kind and caring people came together to raise enough money for Opossum to have her surgery.  The surgery was originally scheduled for the 31st but they were able to get her in yesterday to get it all taken care of.

Opossum had her teeth pulled, and tumors removed, she is also spayed now.  She came through surgery like a little champ and should actually be able to go home today.

She's got some healing time ahead of her, but once she's feeling better we're hoping she can find a fantastic Fur Ever home.  Opossum is a unique and special girl.  We don't know for sure how old she is, and we don't even really know what breed of dog she is that's how bad of shape she is in.  The vet couldn't really give any defenitive information on her because of her medical condition. She's a sweet girl with an amazing personality. 

I've gotten to meet her several times and play with her and photograph her, she's a total love bug.  She loves sweaters and accessories and loves to snuggle!  I hope I get a chance to see her after she recovers from her surgery.

So glad that Opossum's life has been saved and I wish her the best on her recovery and searching for a Fur Ever home, she deserves the best that she can get!

With as many good and heart warming stories that we hear in dog rescue, with dogs being reunited with owners after years of searching, or dogs walking countless miles just to get back to their family, kind people rescuing a dog in need, or just someone adopting a dog and giving it a fantastic home, or nursing a dog bac to health.  There are also the sad stories. There's always the good with the bad. 

The dogs that go missing, that don't make it home at all and the owners spend forever searching forever hoping that one day out of the blue their dog will come bounding up to the house barking and wagging it's tail happy to see their family at long last. Or the dogs who are found...but sadly too late and have crossed that rainbow bridge.

The stories of dog food gone wrong and taking the lives, or making dogs violently ill from tainted treats or tainted foods that we THOUGHT were safe for our beloved family dog.

The stories of dogs forced into dog fighting, tortured and beaten.  Dogs caught in snare traps or metal traps (Recently discovered that this still happens I honestly didn't know this happened around here, but it does apparently!) Recently heard of a dog that had been caught in a snare.  Thankfully she is home, and is safe and her paw should be fine.  But here is some advice on what to do if your dog is caught in a trap (a metal trap) as apparently they are still used around here too.

HOW TO SAVE YOUR DOG/CAT LIFE FROM LEG- HOLD TRAP!!!

Fur trappers will tell you that it is in their interest to catch only the species they are after, and that they have the skills to set traps that will only catch those species. The sad reality is that most traps are notoriously indiscriminate. Nooses designed to catch squirrels running along limbs may ensnare woodpeckers taking the same route, ...or a curious jay. Leghold traps or footsnares set for foxes may snap on the foot of a deer or a dog or anything else that steps on the trap. Baits meant for wolves are known to attract eagles, rare species such as wolverines, or other non-target animals. A companion dog out walking with her owner or a cat near a stream may suddenly be crushed by a Conibear trap set for muskrats. Even people, particularly curious children, can be caught or hurt by these traps.

Theres a lot of undesireable stuff that we as pet owners don't WANT to know about.  I would like to turn a blind eye and go "lalalala I'm not listening" but I can't.  That won't make it go away.  Life isn't always pleasant unfortunately.  We can't live with our blinders on pretending the negative doesn't happen.  I have seen some stuff.  Wow.  If you have the stomach for it...check out Animal Cruelty Exposed on Facebook.  That's a hard page to look at.  Not something I particularly wanted to view, but it did have some important info and did raise my awareness on several things. 

Maybe my point of view is obscured because I've known the world of Childhood Cancer, and seen what it does to our children first hand.  Seen how it tortures, torments, and takes lives leaving an empty gap in the lives of families around the world.  Children, and pets have a lot in common. They easily steal our hearts.  They make us smile.  They give us hope.  They teach us something.  They cannot stand up for themselves, they can't speak for themselves and depend on adults to help them and speak for them in many situations.  Too many times I see people pretend childhood cancer doesn't exist, it couldn't happen to me, they don't want to hear, they don't want to know etc etc.  Same is true for the negative in dog rescue.  People don't want to know, they don't want to hear, it couldn't happen to their dog, it doesn't exist....but it does.  It COULD be your dog. 

I know the two are an odd thing to compare, but I've walked both roads, and I've seen the similarities. People just don't want to know, don't want to hear. Can't say I blame them, we're already blasted with enough negative on the news every day.  Dogs and children shouldn't be a negative they should be a sign of hope and kindness.  Generally they are, but like with anything there's the bad too.

That's why I'm so glad there are people out there meeting the bad head on and doing whatever they can to help.  They make a big difference even in the smallest of ways. Shining a good light in the darkness, a beacon, of hope.

Mahala Dixson