So much better!

I took these pictures of "Buddy" two days ago and just look at the difference! He is healing so well and his personality really came out just a few days ago. He would always just lay around and stay away from all the animals. He wasn't interested in treats or toys either. Well, a few days ago I noticed him playing with a cat toy, picking it up and flipping it in the air to pick up again. Then I saw him chewing on a bone, of course he stopped as soon as he realized I was watching! He even loves treats and will follow me around if I have one in my hand. He was always so funny about the treats though. He has always eaten his food faster than Kahlua, so I know he liked to eat, but he would never eat any treats I would leave in his kennel. Now he snatches them right up. I have to be careful about what I leave around the house now! He is running all over the place and will run around with Zoey and Kahlua. Zoey even lets him jump on her to play. It was hard to even get pictures because he can barely stay still! He absolutely loves getting attention and enjoys his belly rubs as well. It's still a little awkward to hold him and love on him because of the injuries, but it is so awesome to see him so happy! Currently we are working on using the doggy door, but he'll only use it if I hold the flap up and I call him through. He hesitates at the door each time as if he is scared. I wonder if the flap bothers his back coming in and out. Until then he is good about going outside to go potty outside and will run out on his own when I open the door. Buddy has also received an invitation from our Animal Cruelty Taskforce to attend a meeting, so next month he's gonna be a little star!

The more pathetic the better

I began fostering yet another dog over the last couple weeks. I brought him in last month and I was under the impression that he was going to be euthanized that day due to wounds that covered his back. About a week or so later I saw that he was still in the vet room at work. I was told that his treatment was simple enough that we were trying to treat him at the shelter. The poor thing had been left in a 4’x2’ kennel for a few weeks. That made me sad so of course I had to offer to foster him! He is doing great and his injuries continue to get better and better. The little guy is even gaining some weight and looking really good! These pictures are from the day that he came in, I will post more pictures of how it's healing soon.

Also, going along with pathetic, take a look at my poor cat’s haircut! I’m not a big fan of medium or long hair on my animals so I have wanted to give Oscar a haircut for a while. I have tried scissors in the past, but my mom got me some clippers so I gave it my best shot! It’s definitely not perfect, but I don’t think I did too bad for my first shave down, especially considering it was on a cat!

A celebration of life - two ways…

First of all, I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to Kahlua. She turns 4 years old today! I feel like I’m failing on my birthday party planning though, I didn’t make her a cake, get doggy ice cream, or anything. Maybe we’ll just go for a nice walk and give lots of lovin’! She even got to be my K-9 again today, riding along with me on a call with her little pink birthday shirt! On our way back home, 2 girls from down the street wished Kahlua a very Happy Birthday by making birthday cards and giving her a treat. How cute!

The second celebration will be for Nugget as he was put to sleep yesterday afternoon. I had received a call on Wednesday from the rescue stating that his liver was not functioning properly and he was not doing very well. I guess his liver functioning was off the charts. The director of MinPin Haven had been fostering him herself and said she would try some homeopathic remedies including Milk Thistle which is supposed to help the liver. Despite all her hard work and love trying to save little Nugget, his condition worsened and he began having grand mal seizures. Having seen dogs have seizures, it is still hard for me to imagine a small, frail Nugget to me shaking with such severity. The guess of why he was so sick is that there was some kind of toxin in his body that his liver was trying to remove, but there was too much and the toxins went to his brain, causing the seizures. We are not sure on the exact cause of his illness, but they are completing a biopsy so we are hoping to find out what caused it. They are thinking that he may have gotten to a mushroom, a frog, or pesticides. Unfortunately, living where I do, I could not rule out the mushrooms or frogs. I am comforted to know that the director was there when he was put to sleep and he passed being held in her arms, knowing that he was loved. She was actually going to keep the little guy as he was getting along so well with her and her family of min pins. Now, Nugget will soon have a legacy on her website, where she hopes that people will see it and decide against abandoning their dogs in their backyard. It may not seem much of a celebration, but Nugget ended his life with the best of care and more love than a lot of dogs see in a lifetime. He is now in a better place running around on all four of his legs and being a typical min pin; sniffing out every corner of doggy heaven!

Just received a message from the director of Min Pin Haven as I was about to post:
"You all know how I anguished over the decision to put Nugget to sleep yesterday. The biopsy came back and I now know in my heart it was the right decision in considering Nugget's best interests for living a healthy life.

There was a malformation on his liver - the vein that moved blood to the liver for detoxing was significantly deformed and he was being posioned as the amonia and other chemicals built up in his brain, poisoning him, and causing him to have violent seizures. I loved Nugget and it broke my heart to put him to sleep - - but he was in pain and there was no prognosis for a healthy life for him. Dr. Winston and his staff were VERY helpful before, during and after this painful decision.

Marcy thank you for finding MinPinHaven - you and I got to love Nugget for a little while. He is at Rainbow Bridge without pain, waiting for us."

Rescues, Roosters, and Rainforests

First of all, little Nugget, made it to a rescue and was at a vet appointment the very next day. Here we are pictured just before leaving to meet the rescue lady. She said the lil' guy is going to have surgery to fix his leg, so I am hoping for a happy ending to that. I can't wait to see his personality come out post surgery. Once he is done having to go to the doctor he may even come back to my houseto be fostered until he is adopted!

So there has been some excitement at my job over the last week, but fortunately I only had to contact the Sheriff's Department once. I had gone out to find two stray pit bulls that had attacked someone's dog and were still running loose. We had gotten 2 calls regarding the dogs and I was flagged down by a citizen who said two people from her home had gotten nipped at by the dogs. She pointed out the dog owner's home and said that some of her family was down there. I went to the home and tried to get the family to go back home so I could talk to the dog owner. All but one had gone home and she got into an argument with the owner. I explained that if I couldn't do my job that I was going to call the Sheriff. Well neither one made an effort to stop so I called for the Sheriff, while I was calling they started fighting by punching and hair pulling. I stayed in my truck, but that was certainly a site to see. I hope these dogs never get out again!
Then on Tuesday we found out we were changing areas. I was going to switch from the South part of the county to the North. As I left work Tuesday I said goodbye to the South and was kind of bummed. Well at about 9pm I was paged back out, I guess the area wasn't done with me yet. While I was on my way to pick up the sick cat I was paged again for a busted cockfighting ring and the police wanted someone to pick up all the birds. Both my supervisor's met me out there and we worked at getting a search warrant to search the house for knives and other items that they use for cockfighting. Unfortunately, we waited for nothing. The owner admitted to the fighting, but said that he didn’t use any knives (they attach to rooster’s legs for fighting). Hard to believe when there was blood on the ground and an injured rooster (pictures attached). Anyway we waited around from about 10:30pm till about 1:30am before we were told we wouldn't get a search warrant. The owner did surrender the birds at least, so after all that waiting we impounded all of them less than 10 minutes with the help of the owner's son. I even picked up one of the birds myself and put it a carrier, I was proud of myself as I had never handled any animals like this. After closing the latch, I picked up the carrier and it was broken. The top and bottom separated and my hen started running around the yard. Oops!

Last but not least, I worked a license/rabies clinic in Oracle, AZ yesterday. On our way back we stopped at the Biosphere. I was told that the place was closed, but it is very much open. We were able to go back and at least take some pictures of the place, but I am hoping to go back soon and get a tour of the inside. The pictures of the glass building are the Rainforest area. There is also a Ocean, Sahara, and Desert area. Then there are little domes called Lungs, I assume that is for air.

Double Trouble!

Last Wednesday I was helping out with some of the laundry at the shelter when one of the inmates carried in a chocolate min pin. I pretty much snatched the dog out of his arms and knew the doggy needed to be cared for. The dog had an injured leg and he didn’t like his owwee messed with. I fell in love instantly and carried him around any chance I got that day. I talked with the officer that had brought him in and the poor guy had been abandoned in someone’s backyard. The neighbor said that the owners had 6 min pins and she saw them take dogs with them when they moved. She also said this one’s name was Nugget, he had a collar on, but the neighbor said he used to have tags as well. Poor thing had been left in the backyard with no food, no water, no shelter, and an injured back leg. I got permission that day to take him home and foster him. I was hoping that his leg would not be broken and he would recover quickly and come back to be adopted. That night he let me put ointment on his owwee and by morning he trusted me to feel along his leg. No major broken bones at least! One of my concerns for the dog is that we have had the lil’ guy for over a week and he’s still not putting weight on the leg. I saw him lean on the leg twice, but he still goes out of his way to avoid putting weight on it. He isn’t holding his leg as high up as he was and now when he is standing he is even resting his foot on his other back foot. Good signs I suppose, but I can’t stop thinking that something is really wrong with his leg. The shelter does not have a vet on site, nor the money to send him to a vet, so I am going to speak with the adoption coordinator to see if I can send him to a rescue. There is a neat Miniature Pincher Rescue called “Min Pin Haven” based out of Phoenix. Maybe they’ll even continue to let me foster :p

And I know I'm not really posting much about my animal control adventures, but my calls have been pretty boring lately. Although, one of the other officers had some excitement last weekend when he impounded a Ring Tailed Lemur! He's really cute and I'm hoping one of the local zoos takes him. I offered to drive him to San Diego, but realized that probably wouldn't go over well at the border checkpoint! Here he is cuddling in his blanket. Right now he's just in a bird cage, but it is not nearly big enough for him and I know he's bored. I did some research on enrichment for lemurs so I'm hoping to have some fun stuff for him this week!

A first…

I was driving home today and I saw a couple guys on the corner of a busy street nearby my home. I first saw the beautiful pit bull that was with them and I was upset as he didn’t have the dog on a leash. No point yelling at him while I was driving 45 miles an hour down the road. I continued to watch the dog and person with him from my side mirror wondering if maybe the dog was just a stray. Then I saw a different dog, a white fluff ball, dart into the street, right under a car tire, and it tumbled in the road. I turned around as fast as possible and the owner was getting the dog out of the street. I followed him to his house and discussed their options for the dog. The dog was in bad shape, bleeding internally and going into convulsions or shock. My adrenaline was pumping as this was the first time I had ever seen a dog actually being hit by a car. (Unless you count the dog’s paw I nicked with my tire, but I didn’t see it. I just heard the dog squeal and run away and the dog is okay.) They ended up deciding to euthanize the animal on the spot so I was able to do so before the dog had to suffer much more as it was hard to watch. All in all they ended up thanking me and I truly hope they learned a lesson about why to keep dogs on a leash. It’s just a shame that poor little Princess’ life had to end for them to learn that. Still shaky, I returned home and loved on my babies even more. Of course cuddling with cute little kittens is always helpful too. Pictured are my latest fosters! They are so incredibly adorable! Anyone want one…! And as always I need help with names!!! Momma is protective of her babies, but incredibly sweet. The gray/white one is a lover and loves to cuddle. The calico kitty likes to check things out, but doesn’t stick around too long. Then the little orange/white one is very independent, he is often playing and sleeping by himself.

Wow, it's been a month...

It has been a busy month too.

First there was my first foster puppy. I was supposed to take him to the vet to get neutered, but he was too skinny. I kept him for a week to make sure he wasn't sick and put some weight on. He was the epitome of not surviving in a kennel environment. He was a completely different dog when he came to my house. The little guy was already adopted and I got to hand him over to his new parents where they could continue to help him gain weight. Then it was puppy season again! Within a week I had rescued a momma and her 8 pups from under a shed. Then I rescued another momma and 8 pups from a drainage pipe. Here's a pic of me holding my favorite pup from that litter. Her momma and the litter went to rescue so I was very happy to hear that!

Last, but not least my parents came out last weekend and we fixed up Zoey's kennel so that she could use it again, creating a new roof that would be more durable in the sun. It turned out great and I thought Zoey would be happy to be outside and have more room during the day than her little crate indoors. Well, apparently Zoey wanted out. She did some damage to the kennel and she had to go back into the crate. Thanks to my mother's friend who lives nearby for coming today and getting it fixed! So now she can use her kennel again, well, at least until she is motivated enough to carry out another plan of escape. I am still learning that she can be very, very motivated (or possessed)!