Recently retired and having a little free time, I volunteered to be a transporter for GPRA. Most of the time this involves driving to a shelter, picking up a rescue and then driving it to the Atlanta area. The trips were easy and enjoyable. On Thursday, September 20th, I received a call from Dee, GPRA Director of Intake, that was different from the other calls. She asked me if I could pick up an injured dog at a residence that needed immediate medical attention.
When I arrived at the residence, I saw a small, skinny and dirty PYR tied to a tree. The dog was lame and could only stand on three legs. The owner came out to meet me and said that the dog's name was Sadie and that she had no idea what happened to Sadie's leg....perhaps it was a spider bite? In fact, she had only recently noticed the injury. The leg looked terrible and smelled as bad as it looked. After having the owner sign papers surrendering Sadie to GPRA, I loaded her in my car and headed to Huntsville.
Sadie was taken to Flint River Animal Hospital and after a brief check-up by the vet, I was told that she was in bad shape. Yes, the leg was horrible, but the immediate concern was Sadie's fever of 104.5 degrees caused by infection. There was a chance Sadie could go into septic shock. Marla, GPRA's Medical Director was now involved and discussing treatment with the Flint River staff. The good news was that by the next day, they were able to get Sadie's temperature back to normal, but there was some bad news too. The damage to her leg was far greater than initially thought and Sadie would have to see an orthopedic specialist.
Sadie was transported to Northlake Veterinary Surgery in Atlanta on Monday, September 24th. Upon examination, the doctor at Northlake thought that a wire had been wrapped around Sadie's leg which tore her tendon and pulled it from her leg bone. After consulting with GPRA and discussing the various options, it was determined that the best thing for Sadie was amputation. Surgery was performed the next day, September 25th.
My wife and I had planned to foster Sadie, but that was when we thought she'd be was a four legged dog. Now we were hesitant. What extra care would she need? Would our other dogs fight with her because she was different? I was afraid that no one would adopt a three legged dog and that we would end up being Sadie's foster home forever. I had discussions with Marla and John who assured me that Sadie would get around just fine and that someone would adopt her, so we decided to move forward with fostering.
I picked Sadie up from Northlake on Wednesday, September 26th and was amazed. Not only could Sadie get around well, she was so full of energy and her tail was going a mile a minute. She was ready to go! The rest is history. Sadie met our other six dogs, three of which are PYRS, and they all got along great! Of course, Sadie had some restrictions on her from the surgery, but she could play a little with the dogs and do mostly everything a four legged dog could do. She loved getting treats and rolling in the grass. My wife and I fell in love with her and notified GPRA that we would like to adopt Sadie and now she is part of our family.
This experience truly opened my eyes as to what GPRA is all about. Sadie was saved because GPRA was there and took action, as they have with countless other PYRS that needed help. Whether heart worm positive, skin and ear issues, injury by accident or neglect, abandonment or for any other reason, GPRA is there to rescue, help and save PYRS in need. I noticed how the volunteers took actions with a sense of urgency that I rarely saw in the business world I left behind. These people are good - very good - and I can't thank them enough. John, Dee, Marla, Tracy and Heather were all involved with Sadie and there's a team of many others volunteering and contributing to help rescue and save these magnificent animals. Thank You to all involved with helping and supporting GPRA.
