I was conflicted about sharing this story about a couple of our shelter dogs that I wrote about and sent to the Victoria Humane Society. But I think that sometimes we need to be reminded that it is not always about the animals. Their families are impacted as well.
BC Fire Stories
As our province burns, many sad, and many heartbreaking stories are emerging about the families and their animals.
We work very closely with Pet Safe Coalition Society of Canada to help as many as these families keep their animals, and we work hard to make sure all their medical needs are met while in care.
Pet Safe Coalition has worked tirelessly for 10 weeks caring for these animals and while they are an amazing organization, they don’t have the resources to help with all the medical costs.
This is where Victoria Humane Society comes in
We are helping with financial assistance for all the medical
This is an example of one of these stories…..
The Story of Moosey and Scruffy
“Evacuated from the Plateau Complex fire with no time to spare. A pick up truck drives into the shelter with a family, distraught and worried about care for their dogs. Both senior and both very important members of their family. Moosey, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever X who the owner says is 10+ years of age and Scruffy a terrier X estimated to be 15 years. Scruffy hops out and is happy to run around and stretch his legs but not so for Moosey. She has not managed the hour and half drive from home well. Laid out in the back seat she needs to be carried to the dog pen set up just for the two of them. After the paperwork is done and the family reassured that they are most welcome to come and visit their fur family anytime we ask them when was the last time the dogs had a health check done. The answer is a while ago but they are concerned about a cough that Scruffy has. We promise to check into that and maybe if it is okay put both dogs into a home setting where they will be more comfortable and we can observe them better. While in foster care Moosey deteriorates with the stress of the trip and being the age she is, she is losing control of her bladder and walking is very painful for her. She can only manage short distances and her hind is weakening. Even with her smile and willingness to please we know her to be failing and contact the family to meet and talk about her care. After much sole searching and with a heavy heart, with tears the family acknowledges that she is at end of life and would like her suffering to end. The love they have for this sweet dog is very obvious. Moosey’s suffering ended Tues Sept 5th held in caring hands, not alone and surrounded by love. Her ashes will be returned to her family so they can take her home once they are able to return. She was only part of Pet Safe Coalition Society’s family for a short time but she leaves a hole in our heart.
And then there is Scruffy He is such a happy little guy. His owners were concerned about a cough that he developed and Pet Safe agreed to have him checked out by Vet. Well it turned out that the poor boy has a mass in his lung. Not being able to tell with out more extensive testing if it is a tumour or a infection from something he inhaled he has been put on a course of Baytril hoping it will clear up. Scruffy was also put on Furosemide a form of lasics to clear the congestion around his heart. Yes that is not all. He is also on Fortekor which helps the heart to work better. He is now on a heart diet. If the little guys cough didn’t improve we were to bring him back for a recheck. Well he had a nasty coughing fit and was taken back to the Vet. Yes he is now on another heart medication Pirmobendan Vetmedin which he is responding to well. Why are we going to so much trouble and expense for this senior little dog? Well first of all he deserves the best we can give him. He has just lost his life long fur buddy Moosey .His world and is his family’s world has been tragically effected by the Plateau Complex fire and they need each other. We are determined to reunite them when this is over and he can go home where he belongs. His family will continue to follow his course of treatment and with luck and lots of love they will have some more time together. Until then he will be our responsibility to do whatever we can to make it happen.”
We are happy to do our part to help these animals and their families in this tough time.
Please help us to help them by donating at www.victoriahumanesociety.com/donate
