In 2005 I was working at a no-kill animal shelter as the dog program manager. Part of my job was taking care
of all of the intakes. Early that year a woman contacted me about surrendering her dog, Dash. She informed me that she had
rescued him from another shelter a few months before and that he had recently been hit by a car. Dash made an almost
full recovery with the exception of the left front leg. It was permanently paralyzed by the accident and the doctors recommended
an amputation. The leg wasn't causing him any pain, but it got in the way and was prone to being scratched up since it would
drag against things. The homemade sling that she tucked it up in was only mildly effective at keeping it out of the way. She
came to us because she knew that the chances of a dog needing such an expensive surgery stood the likely chance of being euthanized
at a facility that was not no-kill.
During the recovery period, another problem with Dash surfaced. The owner had a small child in the house, and Dash was
becoming posessive of his "mom." He would growl at the child when she came near him if he was with the owner. The woman was
attributing this to the accident, but as someone who was relatively experienced with dog behavior, it was clear to me that
we were dealing with a problem that was more than just a dog defending himself from the pain of recovery.
Normally a dog with posessive tendencies (as well as fear aggression which we later learned was an issue) would be
considered beyond the level of adoptability of our particular shelter. Since we only had room for about 15 dogs
at a time, we usually left dogs with aggression issues up to the local trainers that had adoption programs. The
problem with this whole situation was twofold. The first problem was that I had no idea how the heck I was going
to convince the shelter director to let me take in a dog who was aggressive, and also needed a major surgery that would have
to be performed before he could be adopted and that the shelter could not afford. The second problem was that the moment I
met Dash, I fell in love with him. I knew then and there that I would do anything and everything in my power to help
this dog overcome his problems and find a home.
I discussed this possible intake with the shelter's board of directors and our in-house veterinarian. I described the
situation in detail and emphasized that I thought surrendering Dash to our shelter was a good option for his owner. We agreed
that not bringing him in until we had found a way to get the surgery done would be the best route to take. Our vet had
the skills to perform an amputation, but our limited clinic facilities were inadequate for such a procedure. We needed to
outsource. Being a non-profit organization, the cost of the amputation would be tough to cover. I began contacting local
veterinary clinics, trying to find someone who was willing to help out a small non-profit remove the leg of a soon-to-be homeless
dog.
To be continued....
