|
Happy Endings -
A Playpen Full of Puppies
It was two years ago that I received several calls from 2 different women
begging me to please help a mom and her 12 puppies. They were all at a shelter
in Youngstown and the women had learned that the dog warden was going to put mom
and her puppies to sleep at the end of the day. Being in rescue now for the past
7 years, I had learned to take certain calls with a grain of salt and not to
jump to fast. I took a 2 hour ride out to the shelter and talked to the dog
warden. He stated that he was going to euthanize mom and pups at the end of the
day because “he just didn’t want to be bothered with them, with the food and all
and one had died the night before, so he figured they were all sick and didn’t
want to put the money into their care”.
I was horrified that these 12 puppies that were only three weeks old were going
to be put to sleep before they even had a chance to live. After a few choice
words with the dog warden, I loaded up mom and all 12 puppies and took them all
out to my van. Half way to the van, the momma dog stopped, turned and looked at
me as if to say, Thank You ….. I will never forget that look. When I got them
home, I noticed some swelling around ones throat, swelling around ones leg, so
off to the vet we flew. My vet stated that they had puppy strangles and
prescribed antibiotics. This did clear it up and they thrived. Petra was a
wonderful mom and even tho she didn’t need the help, I stepped in with extra
feedings and baths and of course play time. They were all put up for adoption at
8 weeks old and 7 found homes.
I still have 5 left plus mom and these are some of the dogs featured on the “available
dogs” page. So please, if you know of anyone that is looking for a new best
friend and can give one of these “left over babies” a wonderful forever home,
please contact me.
|
