The story of Casper, a neglected puppy mill dog, appeared on Imgur about a week ago detailing the transformation from when he was rescued. In the author’s words:
“We have a special story for you PetPromise friends. At the very end of March our Dog Program Director was contacted about a 10 week old Great Pyrenees puppy in a bad situation down in a very backwater area of Kentucky. We were told “there was something wrong with his foot- he was missing some toes”. Knowing this area of KY, and how the animals are generally cared for (or not), we reached out to our amazing foster group and arranged a transport to have him brought up here. The night before his transport we were notified he had a sister. Not wanting to leave her behind, we told them to bring her too and we put out an emergency plea to our fosters. Little did we know then what these poor puppies had in store for us…”
“One of our awesome volunteers drove down to Cincinnati to meet the transport and pick up Casper, and his sister Rowan. Upon arrival at her house she noticed they were completely infested with ticks- we’re talking from head to toe, in their ears, embedded under their skin, between their toes- everywhere! She rushed them both straight to our friends at Rascal Animal Hospital where the vets immediately went to work on them. They were treated for the ticks, vaccinated, and given a full exam. Poor Rowan was so infested she had to be completely shaved down!”
“While there, we had them do x-rays of Casper’s foot to see what the issue was. What they found was quite a shock. He was born with a deformed paw, his toes were completely deformed, and he had stress fractures in his leg from not being able to properly balance himself. The options given were to either amputate his leg, which for a dog that will grow to be 120lbs+ is less than ideal, or to consider doing surgery on his foot to remove the toes that he does have, and fit him for a prosthetic foot. The prosthetic foot is a much more costly investment over time as he will outgrow several of them before he is fully matured, but it gives him the best long term prognosis for a long and happy life. At PetPromise, that is what we want for all of the animals that come into our care- so of course the decision was an easy one.”
“He LOVES other dogs, his foster kitty siblings, and all the people he gets to meet. Because he and his sister were born and left outdoors where they came from they were very shy initially. In the month he has been with us he has completely blossomed and come out of his shell completely! He is loving, sweet, and just a gorgeous, giant happy boy! He is now 4 months old and weighs 60lbs! Dr. G at Rascal is going to be making his first prosthetic foot, and he is currently waiting for his surgery to amputate his toes. His surgery has been delayed by a few bumps in the road. He was neutered 2 weeks ago and we had his rear dewclaws removed at that time as well. Casper, being the puppy that he is, decided to pry his bandages off and pull his sutures out, so he had to spend a week at Rascal waiting for them to heal properly (he can also destroy an e-collar like a champ). He will be heading in for surgery soon. We will keep everyone updated on his progress. And if anyone is interested in adopting this very special, AMAZING boy, please let us know.”
“Casper is just one example of the many medical cases that PetPromise takes throughout the course of a year. His medical expenses have already topped $1,000+. Donations for Casper are tax deductible and are very much appreciated. They can be made by sending a donation to us through paypal ([email protected]) mailing a check to Petpromise 4812 Kenny Rd. Columbus Ohio 43220. Please mark the donation “Casper” when you send your gift. Your participation in our upcoming PetPromise Rescue Run helps (set up your fundraising page here even if you can’t attend the event: https://fundraising.active.com/event/PetPromiseRescueRun2015 ), your sharing this post helps, your telling your friends about us helps. We appreciate everyone out there that can do whatever they can to help animals in need. Please help us, help them.”
You can help the cause just by sharing this post. The more people that see this, the more donations toward the medical costs and the better chance Casper finds a forever home! 🙂
