The average dog has one request to all humankind – “Love Me”

Everyone deserves a happy ending, but every now and again and extraordinary situation arises. Below are some of these situations that ARC have assisted in and wish to share with the world. Not for what we have done, but to show how adopting an animal can really save a life.

The Story of Granny

There is the notion that once in a lifetime, twice if we are lucky, we will share our hearts with a dog that we connect with on a deep, inexplicable level. They call them our heart dogs. In June of 2009 I met my mine and my heart will never be the same.

I was a technician at a veterinary clinic who worked closely with the Animal Rescue Coalition. I had been told that there was a sheltie looking for a home. I had built a reputation as a sheltie addict, having two of my own at home. One day I went into work to learn that she was due in that day for a check-up. I was secretly looking forward to meeting her. When I went to reception to meet newest rescue I was met with the funniest looking little sheltie I had ever seen. She was missing about 75% of her hair and her poor teeth, the ones she had left, were falling out of her mouth. Despite all of this, I loved her as soon as our eyes met.
She was wagging her tail veraciously and rubbing her little grey snout all over my coworker, seemingly engrossed in all of the attention she was being given. They estimated her age to be 10 years. Deep down I knew she was probably closer to 12 or 13 but thought if I agreed it would make her live just a little longer. Long story short, two weeks later my shelties had a new, much older, sister that we fondly called Granny.

Granny’s tail did not stop wagging for the 2 1/2 years she spent with us. Everyone who met her loved her. How could you not? She embodied everything that is good about humankind, and none of the bad. She was gentle, loving, forgiving and funny. It was an adjustment living with an older dog. She could not go off leash as she was deaf and could not hear my calls (although there was some discussion in our home as to whether her hearing was nonexistent or selective- to this day we are not too sure). She was slower than my two younger dogs so needed to be walked separately. I loved this time with her. My little dog, the heartbeat at my feet… Granny was with me during many tumultuous times in my life. While adjusting to going back to school to grieving the death of my grandfather, her continuously wagging tail and bright demeanor kept me going.

I had to say good bye to Granny on February 26th 2012. It was difficult, yes, but it left me with a sense of accomplishment. I had cared for this lovely little soul for over 2 years and let her go with her dignity intact. Many people are hesitant to adopt older pets because they fear losing them too soon. Of course I wish I had had her for longer but what would I have done without her for those 2 years? She filled me with joy and happiness and that overshadows the briefness of her time with me. When the time is right, I will adopt again. It will be an older pet who is wise and caring and looking for companionship along their journey. It would be great if we could all take a lesson from Granny. Be loving towards others and always greet strangers with a wagging tail and open heart as they may become your new best friend.

The Story of Lizzy

Hi, My name is Betsy Baillie and we adopted a dog from ARC about 6 years ago. At the time we adopted her; her name was Trinka but when we brought her home we thought Lizzy suited her better. I thought you might like to know how she is doing. About 2 years ago she became quite territorial and also very strong and I was unable to walk her. She was running our house and quite out of control.
We had been to obedience classes but she was so stressed riding in the car that we had to stop. We finally decided that we would have to re-home her but it was breaking our hearts. One day a friend told us about a fabulous trainer in Coldbrook and so the start of a wonderful relationship began. Two years and a lot of hard work on Lizzy’s part, the trainers and ours and Lizzy is now a gentle, loving and very manageable dog. No more aggression and she is a certified St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog.
She goes to nursing homes and to The Waterville Rehab Centre. She loves her jobs and her trainer has her come to stay at his home when he has a puppy to train as she mothers the pup and takes over the training. She is so bright and loving and we are so glad that we took that step instead of giving up on her. I know she has a sister who was adopted about the same time and lived somewhere in the Windsor area. I would love to know how she is. I have lost touch with her owners. Lizzy is definitely a success story. I thought you might like to post her story on your web site. Thank you for what you do for the animals and for making it possible for us to have Lizzy in our lives.

Sincerely,
Betsy Baillie

The Story of Golden

Meet Golden, (Known by his friends as Gordie) a Pomeranian Mix that has recently been surrendered to ARC. Golden is thankfully fostered by a staff member of Westwood Animal Hospital, because he has had to see a vet almost every day…

His journey began by being diagnosed with Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS – commonly known as dry eye).
ARC started with the basics of artificial tears (Viscotears, Hypromellose and Lacrilube) and antibiotic to fight the infection. With that not working we tried Cyclosporin A in hopes to stimulate his own tears, but that didn’t work either. All this time, there has been inflammation of the inner eyelids on both of his eyes causing sores and ulcers. Next we decided to do Parotid Duct Transposition (very rarely done) a surgical procedure to move the outflow from the salivary glands and the parotiod gland its self into the eye.
The surgeons made an incision in his jaw, pulled the parotid duct (salvia gland) up through his head, and stitched it in the upper part of the eyelid. Days later, because his eyes and lids were so irritated they decided to put a button on his eye lid which unfortunately, became infected. After several other options to try and keep his eyes closed so they could heal from the years of neglect and dryness the surgeons decided to put in contacts to keep in moisture and stitched the eye shut, this worked!!!! After some time the contacts were removed and the surgeons did a dye test on his eyes. Unfortunately the lesions in his eyes were so deep that the dye wouldn’t even settle (turn into gel) on the eye. After a second dye test a week later his eyes showed staining that meant the “craters” were decreasing in size and becoming only scratches.

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Thank you for reading his story.

UPDATE SECTION:
Update: March 30, 2011 – Golden has both ducts functioning and producing tears. He will always require drops and continual vetting for this condition. One of his eyes is larger than the other, and he does have cataracts and scaring on the eyes, but this has not affected his personality at all.

Today, Golden is in a loving forever home and still has both eyes working wonderfully. He brings so much happiness to his owner’s home every day.

The Story of Po

Poor Po
This is how he was forced to live for a long time…..he was barking to try to get somone to pay attention to him. Many people complained but still he lived his life on the end of a six foot chain. His owners went so far as to build a fence to block their view of him……he was thrown some food and water every once and a while….people just passed by and said god that dog barks so much……….no one paid attention to the poor miserable soul that was left to live life out of site out of mind.
Then one day a woman decided she would not take it anymore and something should be done and she kept checking on him and feeding him and finally got a certain group that “speaks for those that cannot speak for themselves” to finally pay attention. She made sure people knew about it and made sure the “group” knew she was keeping an eye on the matter. The owners even went so far as to take the dog for a “drive” probably the first “drive” of his life to a lake and they left him there. of course thats what cowardice does to you. anyway this Lady is a saint and contacted us to help out and find Poor Po a new home with people that will love him…………………
Po is now rescued from this horrible life He is at the groomers and will be shaved down bathed and even massaged……………
More people have to come forward about this kind of neglect it is unacceptable. This kind of behavior makes me ashamed to say I’m from the Island that shall remain nameless. How easy it must be to tie a dog out and forget about him. Throw him a pot full of water every now and then. Its pretty lonely when no one cares about how you feel. Not even a soft bed to lay on or a warm voice to tell you goodnight.

Sadly this is something that could have gone on for years for this poor dog, even longer than he has already endured. Dont ignore this and go about your day, contact the powers that be when you see this going on. It is torture to tie a social, loving animal away from its “pack”. Lets face it if you do not have the time or the knowledge to look after a dog properly then let him go to someone that does.
Dont let him lead a long miserable life in your backyard.

Po was adopted into a loving family. Below we’ve included some photos of him in his new life.