Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,
We are four weeks into our Thanksgiving Match Fundraiser and are making great progress. Thank you all so much. That said, we still have some work to do over the next nine days to meet our goal and take advantage of the $40,000 match. Here is t
he story of Rendy and Gareth as told by GPRA and their new parents.
GPRA
: It is not often that GPRA has a foster family that takes in two medical dogs and takes them from their worst to their best. That's when the Smith family stepped in. The Smith family were new to GPRA and Gareth was their first foster. They stepped up and took phenomenal care of Gareth while he started to learn to trust humans again. It didn't happen overnight, but it did happen, and we are all grateful for their dedication and patience to heal this once broken boy.
Gareth came to GPRA in May 2017 from the Talladega Shelter. When he came to us, he was in rough shape and only weighted 45 lbs. He was emaciated, and his skin/fur were in even rougher shape. He had multiple wounds on his face and a severe yeast infection on his entire body. He was unstable on both his back legs and was in pain upon examination. It was discovered that he must have had an old injury that caused the patella to shift causing it to fuse to the femur in his right leg and then some type of injury occurred and caused it to fracture. His left leg wasn't in any better shape due to poor nutrient and no muscle mass. Dr. Bonny Willhite and Dr. Matt Corse took quick action to get him healed and healthy.
Rendy came to GPRA from Henry County in September 2017. He
was found lying on the side of the road by a good Samaritan and his kids on the way to school. The man picked him up and brought him to the local shelter. We were then contacted and, of course, brought him into our rescue. We knew his hind leg was injured with what we thought was a fractured leg. What we discovered was Rendy was terribly underweight at 66 pounds, heavily matted, scared to death, and had a fractured pelvis and a hip dislocation requiring surgery. Oh, he was also heart worm positive. Dr Matt Corse and his team did a remarkable job putting him back together and making him whole again. His fosters took him through both medical procedures and continue to help and encourage him to be the best.
The Smith's
: We feel truly blessed to have Gareth and Rendy (now Remy) in our lives. We had always wanted to foster dogs, but it had never seemed to be the right time. When we saw Gareth we knew the time was right. Senior and sickly dogs have always held a special place in my heart. I knew we would be able to help Gareth return to good health. We were in it for the long haul. Shortly after we started fostering Gareth, Rendy came to the rescue. He had recently had surgery and needed a foster. I felt a connection with him and knew we had the perfect area in our home for him to convalesce. Both boys had issues - Gareth developed some aggressive behaviors and we knew it would be difficult for him to be adopted. We had grown very much attached to him, so we happily made him a part of our family. Remy was extremely shy and timid. He would hide in the corner of the room and was very afraid. He's slowly come out of his shell and after fostering him for almost a year we knew he belonged with us too. Despite all their struggles they have come a long way. Gareth loves romping around in the back yard with his brother Baxter the Corgi and going on car rides. Remy is still quite shy but will now wag his tail and run to us. We love them so much we couldn't imagine our lives without them. They have a piece of our hearts.
Please donate to help us rescue these amazing Gentle Giants. We are investing an average of $1,300 in every PYR rescued and really need your help to continue to make this happen. And remember every dollar donated during this fundraiser is matched 100%.
Thank you,
John Heldrich
GPRA, President and Founder
