I know it's been a while but I've been waiting for the courts to do their thing. Harry and I went to a "hearing" on September 20. Finally the sentencing is scheduled for October 8, 2008. Although the prosecutor originally charged the man that shot Abby with a 6 year felony, he asked us to cut a deal that dropped the charges to a misdemeanor, feeling that a trial would end up in the same manner anyway. The deal is that he would reimburse us for all our expenses and the judge would sentence him for a misdemeanor rather than the felony. The maximum sentence would be one year probation, $2000.00 fine, 300 hours community service to be served at the Humane Shelter. We accepted with the knowledge that we could either attend the final sentencing or have the victims advocate read a statement to the judge. Obviously I don't know what the outcome will be but here is the letter I have sent to the victims advocate to read during the sentencing, the shooter will have to listen to it as well as the judge. I'm blocking out his name just to avoid any legal ramifications I might have. For those of you that wonder why we aren't going to the sentencing, Harry does not want to have to deal with seeing this guy again. I guess I cannot blame him.
While some people, even many people, may think a dog is just an animal, in our family that's just plain not true. We have two dogs and two cats, all rescued from the shelter. My dog Abby, the victim in this case, has been part of my family for more than eight years. She's been a loyal friend and confidant. She lays at my feet where ever and when ever she can. She allows me to cry on her shoulder, literally. She keeps me company and would do anything she possibly can for me. She accepts me unconditionally. All she requires from me is care; food, shelter, exercise and most of all love. I do love Abby dearly, just as I love any other member of my family.
June 7th 2008 Mr. XXXXXXXX saw my dog on his land and without even taking time to consider that there was a human present he shot her. He tried to shoot both my dogs, I guess it's a good thing the man is a bad shot. But being a bad shot also endangered Harry, the human that was only about 40 yards away from Abby. Not only did Abby (or the other dog, Wiley or Harry for that matter) do nothing to harm or antagonize Mr. XXXXXXXX, they had permission to be there by one of his sons.
Abby's injuries were severe, more than 10 pounds of flesh had been blown away. Her wound was 12 inches in width, eight inches in height and four inches in depth, although no bones or organs had been affected it was critical to get her immediate medical attention. Abby went through three surgeries and months of recovery. It is no easy task to care for an animal that has absolutely no understanding of what is happening to them. Harry experienced severe depression from this incident. He has still not recovered from it. Wiley runs and hides every time he hears a loud noise. I lost time at work, sleep and plenty of money during the entire ordeal. All because a man with a gun didn't take time to think before he shot.
It appears that this man has no regard for the life of innocent animals. It is my opinion that he should be taught a few lessons. First and foremost, a gun is a dangerous weapon, it should not be carried or used without careful consideration of the outcome and consequences of it's use. Second, ask questions first, take action after you get the answers. If Mr. XXXXXXXX had just driven further into his quarry he would have seen Harry and could have asked him what he was doing there, or simply told him to leave. Third, just because a dog doesn't belong to you doesn't mean it's a bad animal. There are officials responsible for catching stray dogs. Report the animal, don't shoot it.
I hope Mr. XXXXXXXX gets the maximum sentence allowed, I realize that the charges were dropped from a felony to a misdemeanor but I still think this man's crime should not be taken lightly. He should have to pay for his lack of regard, and his bad judgement. Not only should he have to reimburse me for all my expenses and emotional distress, spend the maximum number of hours doing community service at the Branch County Humane Shelter, pay court costs and all that, he should also have to donate money to the Abby Fund set up at Pokagon Veterinary Hospital, Angola, IN to help pay medical expenses for injured animals who's families cannot afford their care.
Thank you for your careful consideration.
Elizabeth French
Abby's care giver
Well, there you have it. I'll be back after the 8th of October to let you know what happened. In the mean time, Abby is doing really well, her hair has all grown back, she's back to being herself with the exception of loud noises scaring her much more than they used to and her butt is shaped considerably different than before all of this happened.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
#10 - NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH
I'm warning you right off the bat, if you don't want to see the horror of Abby's wound when Dr. Zimmer first started her care DON'T READ THIS PAGE OF OUR BLOG. It is really awful. I hadn't any pictures of the first few days without the plastic cover thing that the Ft. Wayne Veterinary Hospital put over it to protect it and keep the dirt etc. from getting in the open wound. I had seen Abby the day she had been shot and the day we transported her from Ft. Wayne to Pokagon but I hadn't seen the wound that day without the cover. Trust me this is nasty. However, it also delivers quite the impact when you see this picture and then see her now. I cannot say this enough times, I am completely amazed that Dr. Zimmer was able to do what he did. I'll show the comparison now.
BEFORE Dr. Zimmer:
AFTER:
Abby had her stitches removed on July 17, 2008. She can do everything a dog her size and age should be able to do. Please, help save someone else's injured pet, donate to the Abby Fund c/o Pokagon Veterinary Hospital, 2520 HWY 20, Angola, IN 46703
There is a preliminary hearing set for August 20, 2008. I spoke with the victim advocate of the court, she said more than one time "if we win" my question to you is How can we not win? Isn't this an obvious case of cruelty to an animal? If we don't win I need the support of my readers to help me convince the court that what happened to Abby should never have happened and the man that did it needs to be punished. He should be forced to help injured pets. He should have his guns taken away. He should know that what he did was wrong and uncalled for! Email me with your opinions, I'll make sure the prosecutor sees them. Thanks again for reading. I'll be back with more stories of our furry family and will let you know how things turn out in court.
BEFORE Dr. Zimmer:
AFTER:
Abby had her stitches removed on July 17, 2008. She can do everything a dog her size and age should be able to do. Please, help save someone else's injured pet, donate to the Abby Fund c/o Pokagon Veterinary Hospital, 2520 HWY 20, Angola, IN 46703
There is a preliminary hearing set for August 20, 2008. I spoke with the victim advocate of the court, she said more than one time "if we win" my question to you is How can we not win? Isn't this an obvious case of cruelty to an animal? If we don't win I need the support of my readers to help me convince the court that what happened to Abby should never have happened and the man that did it needs to be punished. He should be forced to help injured pets. He should have his guns taken away. He should know that what he did was wrong and uncalled for! Email me with your opinions, I'll make sure the prosecutor sees them. Thanks again for reading. I'll be back with more stories of our furry family and will let you know how things turn out in court.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
#9 Healing Nicely
The next two weeks saw life for our furry family getting back to the way it was before the shooting. Although both dogs shook and shivered over the 4th, hiding anywhere they could that provided them extra shelter. Both of them like the bathroom, kind of reminded me of a tornado drill with both dogs hiding in our small bathroom, there's barely enough room in there for one person to turn around let alone two 100 pound dogs. Besides their reactions to the loud noises and the smell of gun power for that few days when every one and their brother was letting off fire crackers and other mini explosives, things were starting to get back to our form of normal. Wiley and Topaz were no longer skirting their way around Abby. Seems they understood that she was healing, her wound no longer posed a threat to them or her. Wiley was actually sniffing her incision and letting it be known that his cookie is his cookie when Abby would try to steal it. Topaz was no long hissing and hiding, he just went back to ignoring her. Jasper, who had been the only one sympathetic to Abby during all her surgeries, no longer stayed close to her. The routine of Jasper sneaking across the room and Abby, pretending she doesn't see him, laying in wait was returning. Just as Jasper goes by at the closest proximity, Abby jumps up and scares the living day lights out of him. Although still not moving as quickly as she did before at least the desire to scare the cat was back where it should be. Wiley was even joining in the fun. (Don't worry neither dog chases to catch our cats they just like to see them jump). Abby was able to walk well, wag her tail, sit, lie down and poop. The last one on that list still presents a small stance problem but she's just going to have to adjust to her new shape. The only thing she hasn't been able to do is jump up on the bed, which is ok because I really don't want the dogs on my bed anyway, they have their own beds and I don't jump up on those. Jumping up on the bed was difficult for her before because of the weight ratio, the height of the bed and the fact that her legs could be just a bit longer for the amount of weight she was caring around. (Uh yeah, that means she was probably a bit over weight, did I say probably?) I think that it's just the fact that what's left of her rear end is pulled a bit tighter than it used to be so jumping up may take some practice.
We went back as scheduled on July 14. Dr. Zimmer took a look and satisfied that everything was healing well asked Susie to clean some of the scabs off with a saline solution. It only took a few minutes and a Abby was ready to go home again. I still can't believe what Dr. Zimmer was able to accomplish with the mess he had to fix. I think back to the day she got shot and my awe is magnified. There is a God and He gave Dr. Zimmer the talent to sew a big hole on a dogs butt into a functioning, and not too hard to look at rear, wagging tail and all.
Harry calls Abby our miracle dog. We also have a miracle cat. Jasper. We decided to get the kittys a few months after my fat cat Romine had died. Romine had been the fat cat of the litter born into my house when my kids were still home and we had taken in one of my daughter's friend's pregnant cat. We had a huge kitchen in that house and the kitchen table was a horseshoe shaped booth complete with a horseshoe shaped bench with storage compartments under the seats. Momma kitty had made her nest under the seat, unknown to us, until one day we heard her mewing. I lifted the bench seat and Romine was in the process of being born, he was the last of the litter and rather than being the smallest he was twice the size of any of the other kittens. Well, to make an eleven year story short (I'll tell it another time) Romine lived those eleven years a very happy very fat cat.
Back to Jasper. We decided one day that we wanted another cat in the house. We had Abby and Wiley, but I missed having a purring cat so we went to the Steuben County Humane Shelter, same place we'd found Abby and then Wiley, to adopt a kitty. There were, I think three or more rooms full of cats. Old cats, kittens, some in separate cages and a some loose in the room, all sizes and colors and fur types. We felt it was probably best to get a kitten, it would be easier for a kitten to adjust to our dogs and a kitten was less likely to try to cover Romine's lingering scent with it's own. One of the cages had two little kittens in it, a multicolor albeit predominantly gray tiger kitten and a sickly looking little orange kitten. We picked the tiger. With our new kitten in a carrier kennel we introduced him to Abby and Wiley. We put the kennel in the middle of the living room and just let it sit there for a while. The dogs sniffed the kitten through the cage and he sniffed back. After the dogs curiosity waned a bit we opened the door to the carrier. Just opened it and left it that way. Abby stuck her head in and sniffed. Then Wiley did the same thing, when Wiley sniffed the kitten, the kitten rubbed his head on Wiley's nose, the beginning of a very strong bond between cat and dog began at that very moment. Slowly the kitten emerged from the carrier, he started following Wiley around and stuck very close. He pretty much ignored Abby even when she shoved him around a bit with her nose.
We couldn't forget about the poor little orange kitty back at that shelter. We wondered if it was this one's sibling. We talked about it and figured if we have two dogs, why not two cats so the following day we went back to get the other kitten. The folks at the shelter said he was sick but they gave us medicine to give him, seemed he had a cold. They gave me instructions on how much and when to give him his medicine and off we went. I made a mistake this time and instead of leaving the kitty in the carrier for a long enough time to let everyone sniff everyone I just took him out of the carrier to give him some medicine. I mixed it with a small amount of yogurt and fed it to him from a spoon, but because I hadn't let everyone introduce themselves there was some jealousy from Abby and fear on the new little kitty's part. The kittens' seemed to recognize each other and Wiley didn't really care but the beginning for Abby and this scrawny little orange piece of fluff didn't really go all that well. I was babying the kitten as well and that certainly didn't sit right with Abby, she, after all, was suppose to be my baby.
I had recently started making jewelry with natural stones and Harry is (as you already know) a collector of rocks, so it was decided that we would name the kittens after stones, the tiger became Topaz for his many colors and the orange kitty became Jasper. We nursed Jasper to health and had a happy furry family. Wiley and Topaz were a pair, that cat would love on that dog until the dog had to walk away. Topaz would clean Wiley's face, feet, ears, where ever he could lick him. Wiley was patient and let him do it but every dog has his limit. The cats acted like brothers even if they probably weren't. They played together well and would venture together discovering their world. A couple years went by and they would go separate ways. Topaz was the hunter of the two, always bringing in trophies that we would have rather he'd let live. Jasper was a more whimsical sort. He enjoyed chasing butterflies and maple keys. His own shadow would startle him where Topaz would sleep through just about anything. One day they both went out but only Topaz came home.
It wasn't unusual for one or the other of the cats to be gone for a number of hours but you could almost count on Jasper like clock work to meow at the bedroom window to be let in at about 3:30 am. If I wanted to get a full night's sleep, I'd make sure Jasper was already in when I went to bed other wise he'd be waking me up. He didn't wake me up that night, nor the next or the next. I prayed every night that my little kitty would come home. I missed him, he was my little cuddler and it was only me he would cuddle with. It had been the weekend before a holiday when he disappeared, I asked all the neighbors if they had seen him, everyone had been doing yard work that weekend. No one had seen him. I called the shelter, he hadn't been brought in. I looked along the road side, thank God I didn't find him there. I went for walks and called for him. No answer. Three weeks went by, every night as I went to bed I'd ask God to bring by little furry buddy back to me. Three weeks to the day, I was in the kitchen and I heard a faith meow. It was Jasper, I'd recognize his meow anywhere. I went out side and there he was. Poor thing was nothing but skin and bones, he could barely walk. It was very apparent he hadn't had any food. He'd been living off bugs and water. We figured he must have been shut in someone's yard barn or garage, the weather had been very dry so no one had done any yard work for three weeks! Now every night when I go to bed I thank God for my little reminder that He loves me, my lovable cuddler, Jasper.
So Harry and I have our miracle reminders. Abby and Jasper. Help someone provide medical care to their little miracle, donate to The Abby Fund, c/o Pokagon Veterinary Hospital. 2520 Hwy 20, Angola, IN 46703
We went back as scheduled on July 14. Dr. Zimmer took a look and satisfied that everything was healing well asked Susie to clean some of the scabs off with a saline solution. It only took a few minutes and a Abby was ready to go home again. I still can't believe what Dr. Zimmer was able to accomplish with the mess he had to fix. I think back to the day she got shot and my awe is magnified. There is a God and He gave Dr. Zimmer the talent to sew a big hole on a dogs butt into a functioning, and not too hard to look at rear, wagging tail and all.
Harry calls Abby our miracle dog. We also have a miracle cat. Jasper. We decided to get the kittys a few months after my fat cat Romine had died. Romine had been the fat cat of the litter born into my house when my kids were still home and we had taken in one of my daughter's friend's pregnant cat. We had a huge kitchen in that house and the kitchen table was a horseshoe shaped booth complete with a horseshoe shaped bench with storage compartments under the seats. Momma kitty had made her nest under the seat, unknown to us, until one day we heard her mewing. I lifted the bench seat and Romine was in the process of being born, he was the last of the litter and rather than being the smallest he was twice the size of any of the other kittens. Well, to make an eleven year story short (I'll tell it another time) Romine lived those eleven years a very happy very fat cat.
Back to Jasper. We decided one day that we wanted another cat in the house. We had Abby and Wiley, but I missed having a purring cat so we went to the Steuben County Humane Shelter, same place we'd found Abby and then Wiley, to adopt a kitty. There were, I think three or more rooms full of cats. Old cats, kittens, some in separate cages and a some loose in the room, all sizes and colors and fur types. We felt it was probably best to get a kitten, it would be easier for a kitten to adjust to our dogs and a kitten was less likely to try to cover Romine's lingering scent with it's own. One of the cages had two little kittens in it, a multicolor albeit predominantly gray tiger kitten and a sickly looking little orange kitten. We picked the tiger. With our new kitten in a carrier kennel we introduced him to Abby and Wiley. We put the kennel in the middle of the living room and just let it sit there for a while. The dogs sniffed the kitten through the cage and he sniffed back. After the dogs curiosity waned a bit we opened the door to the carrier. Just opened it and left it that way. Abby stuck her head in and sniffed. Then Wiley did the same thing, when Wiley sniffed the kitten, the kitten rubbed his head on Wiley's nose, the beginning of a very strong bond between cat and dog began at that very moment. Slowly the kitten emerged from the carrier, he started following Wiley around and stuck very close. He pretty much ignored Abby even when she shoved him around a bit with her nose.
We couldn't forget about the poor little orange kitty back at that shelter. We wondered if it was this one's sibling. We talked about it and figured if we have two dogs, why not two cats so the following day we went back to get the other kitten. The folks at the shelter said he was sick but they gave us medicine to give him, seemed he had a cold. They gave me instructions on how much and when to give him his medicine and off we went. I made a mistake this time and instead of leaving the kitty in the carrier for a long enough time to let everyone sniff everyone I just took him out of the carrier to give him some medicine. I mixed it with a small amount of yogurt and fed it to him from a spoon, but because I hadn't let everyone introduce themselves there was some jealousy from Abby and fear on the new little kitty's part. The kittens' seemed to recognize each other and Wiley didn't really care but the beginning for Abby and this scrawny little orange piece of fluff didn't really go all that well. I was babying the kitten as well and that certainly didn't sit right with Abby, she, after all, was suppose to be my baby.
I had recently started making jewelry with natural stones and Harry is (as you already know) a collector of rocks, so it was decided that we would name the kittens after stones, the tiger became Topaz for his many colors and the orange kitty became Jasper. We nursed Jasper to health and had a happy furry family. Wiley and Topaz were a pair, that cat would love on that dog until the dog had to walk away. Topaz would clean Wiley's face, feet, ears, where ever he could lick him. Wiley was patient and let him do it but every dog has his limit. The cats acted like brothers even if they probably weren't. They played together well and would venture together discovering their world. A couple years went by and they would go separate ways. Topaz was the hunter of the two, always bringing in trophies that we would have rather he'd let live. Jasper was a more whimsical sort. He enjoyed chasing butterflies and maple keys. His own shadow would startle him where Topaz would sleep through just about anything. One day they both went out but only Topaz came home.
It wasn't unusual for one or the other of the cats to be gone for a number of hours but you could almost count on Jasper like clock work to meow at the bedroom window to be let in at about 3:30 am. If I wanted to get a full night's sleep, I'd make sure Jasper was already in when I went to bed other wise he'd be waking me up. He didn't wake me up that night, nor the next or the next. I prayed every night that my little kitty would come home. I missed him, he was my little cuddler and it was only me he would cuddle with. It had been the weekend before a holiday when he disappeared, I asked all the neighbors if they had seen him, everyone had been doing yard work that weekend. No one had seen him. I called the shelter, he hadn't been brought in. I looked along the road side, thank God I didn't find him there. I went for walks and called for him. No answer. Three weeks went by, every night as I went to bed I'd ask God to bring by little furry buddy back to me. Three weeks to the day, I was in the kitchen and I heard a faith meow. It was Jasper, I'd recognize his meow anywhere. I went out side and there he was. Poor thing was nothing but skin and bones, he could barely walk. It was very apparent he hadn't had any food. He'd been living off bugs and water. We figured he must have been shut in someone's yard barn or garage, the weather had been very dry so no one had done any yard work for three weeks! Now every night when I go to bed I thank God for my little reminder that He loves me, my lovable cuddler, Jasper.
So Harry and I have our miracle reminders. Abby and Jasper. Help someone provide medical care to their little miracle, donate to The Abby Fund, c/o Pokagon Veterinary Hospital. 2520 Hwy 20, Angola, IN 46703
Sunday, July 13, 2008
#8 The Final Surgery?
After being out at Pokagon for another week I was really ready for Abby to come home. I missed her terribly and although we could go see her whenever we wanted and take her for walks it was really hard to leave her each time. She was telling me with a high pitched "take me home" bark that she was ready to come home too. I felt guilty for leaving her and I felt guilty for taking up the space at the hospital and the time of the staff. My feelings were all my own, the staff did nothing to make me feel that way, I just felt I should be doing more myself.
The doctor had to do one more surgery to clean up the dead tissue once again and try to pull things even closer, closing up the parts of the wound that kept pullling open. He did what we hope to be the finally surgery that Friday morning and told us we could come get her Friday after I got off work.
She was still groggy from the medication and not to sure of her own footing when we picked her up. They gave us an e-collar just in case we needed it when she was back to herself again, her antibiotics and off we went.
This is what the latest result looked like. I still am in utter amazement that Dr. Zimmer could produce such great results with the damage that had been done.
Dr. Zimmer managed to close up the rest of the open parts of the wound and Abby is healing nicely. We go back on Monday, July 14th for a check up. I'll let you know what the doc says and we'll keep you posted on Abby's healing.
The victims advocate of the court that is prosecuting this has contacted me and sent me forms to fill out etc. I am including most of what I have written here in my reply and hope to have the rest of the pictures so the prosecutor and the judge can see what an ordeal this has been for Abby and the rest of us.
Thanks again for reading, keep passing it on and anyone that feels like helping a wounded animal with poor parents can send donations to Pokagon Veterinary Hospital, c/o The Abby Fund, 2520 US Hwy 20, Angola, IN 46703.
The doctor had to do one more surgery to clean up the dead tissue once again and try to pull things even closer, closing up the parts of the wound that kept pullling open. He did what we hope to be the finally surgery that Friday morning and told us we could come get her Friday after I got off work.
She was still groggy from the medication and not to sure of her own footing when we picked her up. They gave us an e-collar just in case we needed it when she was back to herself again, her antibiotics and off we went.
This is what the latest result looked like. I still am in utter amazement that Dr. Zimmer could produce such great results with the damage that had been done.
Dr. Zimmer managed to close up the rest of the open parts of the wound and Abby is healing nicely. We go back on Monday, July 14th for a check up. I'll let you know what the doc says and we'll keep you posted on Abby's healing.
The victims advocate of the court that is prosecuting this has contacted me and sent me forms to fill out etc. I am including most of what I have written here in my reply and hope to have the rest of the pictures so the prosecutor and the judge can see what an ordeal this has been for Abby and the rest of us.
Thanks again for reading, keep passing it on and anyone that feels like helping a wounded animal with poor parents can send donations to Pokagon Veterinary Hospital, c/o The Abby Fund, 2520 US Hwy 20, Angola, IN 46703.
Monday, July 7, 2008
#7 The Drain Tube is Removed
I guess I should show you a picture of how the Doc sewed Abby up in the first place before we go on to the next stage which is removing the drain tube. It's not as bad as it was but it's still pretty ugly so be ready.
Dr. Zimmer let us bring Abby home for a few days after he did the surgery. She hated the e-collar but we had to keep it on her so she wouldn't ruin the doctors good work by chewing the tube and pulling it out. Not only would it make a horrible mess but it would also really hurt her and make her even more vulnerable to infection.
We had prescription antibiotics to give her twice a day, which went down really well once I figured out that if I wrap the pill in a thin slice of turkey or ham our "food infested" (yes, I know that's Harry's saying remember) puppy dog would gulp it right down. We still had a couple doggy pain pills but she didn't need them until the next surgery so we gave those back to the doc when we took her back to have the tube removed.
Dr. Zimmer took the tube out on a Wednesday, we were able to bring her home Thursday, but by Friday noon the stitches were pulling apart so badly we were worried about keeping it clean, so we took her back to Pokagon Veterinary Hospital. I didn't get the chance to ask the Dr. but I figure the tube was probably helping to hold things together because he literally took a big hole and pulled the sides together, there was no meat left in the center so the tube, although sewn in separatly, was reinforcement and was helping to hold it all together. This is what it looked like after she'd be home for a little while.
It was worse by the time we got her back to the vet but this is the only picture I have at the moment. (The staff at the vet has more pictures but the cd I gave them to burn was defective so I still don't have those pictures, I'll have them before this is all said and done and the ones I'm showing here are mild in comparison - fair warning.)
Although Abby couldn't reach the wound, with or without the e-collar, she managed to rub it on things because of the itch. Now keep in mind this is a dog that is allergic to fleas. So itching is something she hates. Poor baby's butt was itching so much that she'd try to rub it on anything she could, the edge of the couch, the edge of the bed, the hallway wall. I wasn't so concerned about cleaning up after her (although, that's not fun with this kind of a mess) but I was really concerned she'd rip it all open again.
Dr. Zimmer had said if we became concerned we should let them know right away, so back she went that Friday to stay for another week.
The people at Pokagon Veterinary Clinic are great! We took Abby back while I was home for lunch so I could sit in the back seat with her and keep her from rubbing on the back seat. You know how most dogs really put up a fuss when it's time to go to the vet? Well, Abby walked right in that front door like she was at her second home, in my opinion that speaks volumes about the entire staff! Thank you everyone for being so caring and kind to my Abby dog.
There's more, but that's enough for the moment, please come back and as always, pass it on.
Dr. Zimmer let us bring Abby home for a few days after he did the surgery. She hated the e-collar but we had to keep it on her so she wouldn't ruin the doctors good work by chewing the tube and pulling it out. Not only would it make a horrible mess but it would also really hurt her and make her even more vulnerable to infection.
We had prescription antibiotics to give her twice a day, which went down really well once I figured out that if I wrap the pill in a thin slice of turkey or ham our "food infested" (yes, I know that's Harry's saying remember) puppy dog would gulp it right down. We still had a couple doggy pain pills but she didn't need them until the next surgery so we gave those back to the doc when we took her back to have the tube removed.
Dr. Zimmer took the tube out on a Wednesday, we were able to bring her home Thursday, but by Friday noon the stitches were pulling apart so badly we were worried about keeping it clean, so we took her back to Pokagon Veterinary Hospital. I didn't get the chance to ask the Dr. but I figure the tube was probably helping to hold things together because he literally took a big hole and pulled the sides together, there was no meat left in the center so the tube, although sewn in separatly, was reinforcement and was helping to hold it all together. This is what it looked like after she'd be home for a little while.
It was worse by the time we got her back to the vet but this is the only picture I have at the moment. (The staff at the vet has more pictures but the cd I gave them to burn was defective so I still don't have those pictures, I'll have them before this is all said and done and the ones I'm showing here are mild in comparison - fair warning.)
Although Abby couldn't reach the wound, with or without the e-collar, she managed to rub it on things because of the itch. Now keep in mind this is a dog that is allergic to fleas. So itching is something she hates. Poor baby's butt was itching so much that she'd try to rub it on anything she could, the edge of the couch, the edge of the bed, the hallway wall. I wasn't so concerned about cleaning up after her (although, that's not fun with this kind of a mess) but I was really concerned she'd rip it all open again.
Dr. Zimmer had said if we became concerned we should let them know right away, so back she went that Friday to stay for another week.
The people at Pokagon Veterinary Clinic are great! We took Abby back while I was home for lunch so I could sit in the back seat with her and keep her from rubbing on the back seat. You know how most dogs really put up a fuss when it's time to go to the vet? Well, Abby walked right in that front door like she was at her second home, in my opinion that speaks volumes about the entire staff! Thank you everyone for being so caring and kind to my Abby dog.
There's more, but that's enough for the moment, please come back and as always, pass it on.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
#6 I Am Amazed!!
We waited a few days, we went out a couple times to see Abby but she got so excited it was best to not go. They were letting her be e-collar free while there because she was leaving her wound alone. I'm pretty sure that Dr. Zimmer did her surgery on the following Monday (you'll have to forgive me now because the days have pretty much run together and I really can't be sure) I know he did an amazing job. I have no idea how he was able to take such a gaping hole and close it up as well as he did, but he did it. I'll show you picture again and be ready because they are really gross, but you know you just have to see this to understand what this poor dog went through. The E-collar had to go back on because the doc had stitched in a drain tube to keep the fluids from building up inside the handy work he had done. All along Abby has been wagging her tail and acting just like the food obsessed (Harry says food infested, too funny when he says that) happy dog she's always been. The folks at Pokagon Veterinary told Harry what a smart dog she is. (I agree, I've always said she understands everything we say, now that may be an exaggeration and I'm sure when I say that people think I'm nuts, probably rightly so, but this dog understands English very well
So, surgery done, a few more days at the hospital for Abby and finally we get to bring her home. We're to bring her back in a few days to have the tube removed and make sure everything is healing the way it is suppose
to. My dog again has a butt. Sure it's still ugly and it's got the drain tube hanging out on either side and she still has that e-collar on which she uses like a bulldozer (she literally pushed me through the house with that thing) but it's no longer a gaping hole and it will eventually heal. She walks normally, albeit a bit stiffly at the moment but she's doing great
Harry also received a call from the Sergeant. The guy that shot our dog could be looking at up to six years. Although, that is not my wish to have him spend a bunch of time in jail I hope the prosecutor makes it very clear to him that what he did is wrong, very wrong. I don't know what they will end up doing to him, I'm not even sure when it's going to court but I'll keep you posted
In the mean time would you like to hear the story about my flying lesson? Last summer, my friend and neighbor, Debi were walking both Abby and Wiley. They are too much for me to walk by myself so Deb would go with me. We were using the kind of leashes that extend, we had walked five or six blocks around the neighborhood and were walking them through a field at the end of a cul de sac, the field is between two nursing homes. Part of the field is mowed like a regular lawn, part of it is open field and in a small corner the one of the nursing homes had planted a small vegetable garden
Well, gardens and summer and fields equal what? You got it rabbits! Oh what fun it is to be a dog and chase a rabbit, however, if the person on the other end of the leash isn't paying attention and the leash is on extend, well guess what happens when the rabbit runs and the dog runs after it and the stupid human on the other end doesn't let go! Yeap, I was airborne. Deb said I actually got parallel with the ground. Ok, go ahead and laugh, a 50+ year old woman hanging onto the end of a leash that has a 120 lb dog running full bore after a cute little bunny rabbit, sure it was a site, I'd imagine if we'd had a video camera we would have won on FHV or something of that nature, might have even big a big money winner and I wouldn't have to beg for donations to the Abby fund. All that set aside, you should have seen the landing! Uh, yeah, I was holding the leash with both hands so I landed face first on my nose! OWCH! Now that hurt. Course as soon as I hit the ground Abby became aware that something was seriously wrong with mom and she forgot the rabbit, came over to me and started checking me out. Deb took both dogs and took off running for home, she took a short cut through a couple yards and went right into her house with both dogs to get an ice pack.
Harry was sitting in a chair in the front yard because he had decided he was going to paint the front of the house to look like a log cabin so he was drawing that out when I came behind him.... "Haiwy, Haiwy, I tink I bwoke by dose" I was holding my face with my hands and sounded somewhat like Elmer Fudd. You just have to laugh now because it really is funny but man it hurt at the time. Harry didn't know what to think when he saw me holding my face with blood filled hands and no dogs, he jumped up from his chair slid down on his knees in front of me and said "what happened, what happened, oh God, are you ok? Where are the dogs? Did you get hit by a car? WHAT HAPPENED?"
Well, just about that time Deb showed up with both dogs and an ice pack for my face. She got Harry all calmed down and told him what had happened. Everyone wanted me to go to the doctor but ya know, there's not much they can do for a broken nose, so I just kept ice on it for a while and took some ibruprophen. I looked somewhat like a raccoon for a few days and was a bit sore and not sure I wanted to walk my dog on leash anymore. And that, my friends, is the flying lesson that Abby gave me
Well, till next time. Thanks for reading, pass it on.
So, surgery done, a few more days at the hospital for Abby and finally we get to bring her home. We're to bring her back in a few days to have the tube removed and make sure everything is healing the way it is suppose
to. My dog again has a butt. Sure it's still ugly and it's got the drain tube hanging out on either side and she still has that e-collar on which she uses like a bulldozer (she literally pushed me through the house with that thing) but it's no longer a gaping hole and it will eventually heal. She walks normally, albeit a bit stiffly at the moment but she's doing great
Harry also received a call from the Sergeant. The guy that shot our dog could be looking at up to six years. Although, that is not my wish to have him spend a bunch of time in jail I hope the prosecutor makes it very clear to him that what he did is wrong, very wrong. I don't know what they will end up doing to him, I'm not even sure when it's going to court but I'll keep you posted
In the mean time would you like to hear the story about my flying lesson? Last summer, my friend and neighbor, Debi were walking both Abby and Wiley. They are too much for me to walk by myself so Deb would go with me. We were using the kind of leashes that extend, we had walked five or six blocks around the neighborhood and were walking them through a field at the end of a cul de sac, the field is between two nursing homes. Part of the field is mowed like a regular lawn, part of it is open field and in a small corner the one of the nursing homes had planted a small vegetable garden
Well, gardens and summer and fields equal what? You got it rabbits! Oh what fun it is to be a dog and chase a rabbit, however, if the person on the other end of the leash isn't paying attention and the leash is on extend, well guess what happens when the rabbit runs and the dog runs after it and the stupid human on the other end doesn't let go! Yeap, I was airborne. Deb said I actually got parallel with the ground. Ok, go ahead and laugh, a 50+ year old woman hanging onto the end of a leash that has a 120 lb dog running full bore after a cute little bunny rabbit, sure it was a site, I'd imagine if we'd had a video camera we would have won on FHV or something of that nature, might have even big a big money winner and I wouldn't have to beg for donations to the Abby fund. All that set aside, you should have seen the landing! Uh, yeah, I was holding the leash with both hands so I landed face first on my nose! OWCH! Now that hurt. Course as soon as I hit the ground Abby became aware that something was seriously wrong with mom and she forgot the rabbit, came over to me and started checking me out. Deb took both dogs and took off running for home, she took a short cut through a couple yards and went right into her house with both dogs to get an ice pack.
Harry was sitting in a chair in the front yard because he had decided he was going to paint the front of the house to look like a log cabin so he was drawing that out when I came behind him.... "Haiwy, Haiwy, I tink I bwoke by dose" I was holding my face with my hands and sounded somewhat like Elmer Fudd. You just have to laugh now because it really is funny but man it hurt at the time. Harry didn't know what to think when he saw me holding my face with blood filled hands and no dogs, he jumped up from his chair slid down on his knees in front of me and said "what happened, what happened, oh God, are you ok? Where are the dogs? Did you get hit by a car? WHAT HAPPENED?"
Well, just about that time Deb showed up with both dogs and an ice pack for my face. She got Harry all calmed down and told him what had happened. Everyone wanted me to go to the doctor but ya know, there's not much they can do for a broken nose, so I just kept ice on it for a while and took some ibruprophen. I looked somewhat like a raccoon for a few days and was a bit sore and not sure I wanted to walk my dog on leash anymore. And that, my friends, is the flying lesson that Abby gave me
Well, till next time. Thanks for reading, pass it on.
Monday, June 30, 2008
#5 - Does she stay or Does she go?
Wednesday, June 11, 2008. After having Abby overnight and getting a good look at her wound Dr. Zimmer decided he would keep her. He had spoken to the Dr. in Ft. Wayne and discussed her treatment. Susie mentioned that Dr. Zimmer sometimes likes a challenge, Abby posed a good one. It was decided that she should stay quiet for a few days to allow some of the natural healing process; Dr. Zimmer cleaned the wound, trimmed the dead tissue from it and treated it with a mixture that included Emu Oil. I had read some about the healing properties of Emu oil, it sounded like a great way to go to me. He wanted to let that work for a few days and then would attempt to close the wound.
In the mean time I had has some correspondence with the Sergeant regarding the man that shot Abby. She had talked with him, he admitted shoot the dog and that he felt he had done nothing wrong. She has also talked with his younger son who admitted that he had told Harry he could go into the quarry with dogs but he had assumed it was just for the day, not for any period of time. The Sergeant said it was up to me if I wanted to have her send it to the prosecutor. I told her yes!
Now I completely understand the old farmer mentality that this is my land and I can protect it with my gun. Ok, if you’re having a problem with a pack of wild dogs eating your chickens and all other avenues have failed I might be able to understand protecting the chickens. If a dog is obviously rabid you’re damned right do something about it. If a dog is attacking and the only self defense you have is to shoot it, I’d probably find myself doing that too. But Abby was just climbing up the quarry ridge sniffing everything and being a dog. She had paid the farmer no mind at all and had certainly done him no harm, she hadn’t even had the chance to catch a frog, so you’re damned right I want this to go to the prosecutor. I’m not really interested in seeing anyone go to jail, although I don’t know that Abby would agree with me if she could tell me what she thought, but I think they ought to take this guys’ guns away from him (before he shoots someone else) and make him pay for my poor dog’s care and maybe even help with the Abby Fund for other dogs that can use a hand due to some human’s stupidity. In fact maybe every human that is convicted of cruelty to animals should not only get the punishments the courts afford them usually but should have to contribute to a fund like the Abby Fund. Hmmmmmm, isn’t that food for thought.
Anyway, I’m getting carried away. I told the Sergeant yes, that I wanted restitution and some kind of justice for my dog, I faxed her the bills we had so far incurred and emailed her a picture of poor Abby’s butt (the one I already showed you). She said she’d be in touch.
So, now it was just a waiting game on both fronts. Waiting for Abby to heal and waiting for the slow hand of justice to accomplish its task.
Keep reading, keep passing it on. We’ll be back.
In the mean time I had has some correspondence with the Sergeant regarding the man that shot Abby. She had talked with him, he admitted shoot the dog and that he felt he had done nothing wrong. She has also talked with his younger son who admitted that he had told Harry he could go into the quarry with dogs but he had assumed it was just for the day, not for any period of time. The Sergeant said it was up to me if I wanted to have her send it to the prosecutor. I told her yes!
Now I completely understand the old farmer mentality that this is my land and I can protect it with my gun. Ok, if you’re having a problem with a pack of wild dogs eating your chickens and all other avenues have failed I might be able to understand protecting the chickens. If a dog is obviously rabid you’re damned right do something about it. If a dog is attacking and the only self defense you have is to shoot it, I’d probably find myself doing that too. But Abby was just climbing up the quarry ridge sniffing everything and being a dog. She had paid the farmer no mind at all and had certainly done him no harm, she hadn’t even had the chance to catch a frog, so you’re damned right I want this to go to the prosecutor. I’m not really interested in seeing anyone go to jail, although I don’t know that Abby would agree with me if she could tell me what she thought, but I think they ought to take this guys’ guns away from him (before he shoots someone else) and make him pay for my poor dog’s care and maybe even help with the Abby Fund for other dogs that can use a hand due to some human’s stupidity. In fact maybe every human that is convicted of cruelty to animals should not only get the punishments the courts afford them usually but should have to contribute to a fund like the Abby Fund. Hmmmmmm, isn’t that food for thought.
Anyway, I’m getting carried away. I told the Sergeant yes, that I wanted restitution and some kind of justice for my dog, I faxed her the bills we had so far incurred and emailed her a picture of poor Abby’s butt (the one I already showed you). She said she’d be in touch.
So, now it was just a waiting game on both fronts. Waiting for Abby to heal and waiting for the slow hand of justice to accomplish its task.
Keep reading, keep passing it on. We’ll be back.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
#4 - Transfer to Pokagon Veterinary Hospital
Tuesday June 10, 2008 Harry, who is usually up all night and sleeping till at least 11am (artists....), got up early in the morning with me so he could drop me at my office (with only the one little car he'd have to drop me off then go) then head to Ft. Wayne in order to get back to the Pokagon Veterinary Hospital and Dr. Zimmer around 9am. Dr. Zimmer had stressed that he felt Abby was in very good hands in Ft. Wayne, that he felt she was getting excellent care where she was, but we wanted her closer to home and also felt maybe a rural veterinary hospital might not be as expensive as the one in the big city. So I went to work an hour early and Harry went to Ft. Wayne. The plan was that I would use my work's car and meet him at Dr. Zimmer's at around 9.
I pulled into Dr. Zimmer's just a few minutes after 9, Harry pulled in just a minute or two later. Abby got out of the car with one of those big plastic "lamp shade" collars (I guess the technical name is e-collar, at least that is how it was itemized on the bill) and a plastic guard "buttoned" to her nonexistent butt. I'm going to show you a picture of it and it's pretty ugly so be ready. ( 'Course there will be uglier pictures before we are done but you'll be able to see the amazing progress that has been made by Dr. Zimmer with this horrific wound.) My heart went out to her, it was the first time I'd seen her since we left her in Ft. Wayne on Saturday, she was moving slow but you could tell she was happy to see me. Her tail was waging. I had to wonder how she could even think about waging her tail. I would have thought it would really hurt but I guess I'm not to up on the anatomy of a dog, at least not what muscles do what, because I would have thought that the muscles that control her tail were gone considering the size of the hole on her back side.
It's kind of blurry to me right now but I'm pretty sure that it was Susie that greeted us and show us directly to an examination room. I will never, ever forget the look on Dr. Zimmer's face when he stepped into that room and took his first look at Abby, it was a holy crap look if I have ever seen one. A wow or woe or something like that involuntarily came out of his mouth and he kind of stepped back and just looked at it for what seemed like a few minutes at least.
Dr. Zimmer sat down in a chair in the corner and looked at us and said what would you do if I told you to turn around and take her back to Ft. Wayne. I said "well, I guess if that is what you told me to do that is what I would have to do, but I'd rather not." He had also reminded me that she had been getting very good care there. I told him I knew that but I had heard good things about him and he was closer to home and I thought he might not be quite as expensive (not that his care was of any lessor quality, just that things usually do cost more in the city than they do in the smaller rural areas) . Then I asked him what would he do if she was his dog? His answer was that he had the facility to take care of her and he would be able to do so, course being a veterinarian I guess my question was a bit silly but I wanted to know his honest opinion, would you put her through what she is going to have to go through? He said, she will recover from this, it's going to be a few bad weeks (the folks in Ft. Wayne had already told us it would take at least all summer for this wound to heal) but she will recover. That made me relax a bit. My original feeling that no bones had been hit, no organs and no major arteries, she was still the healthy old gal she had been before she had been shot, she just had a big hole where her butt used to be, I couldn't even consider putting her down. Money or no money I would find a way to take car of the vet bills and allow my furry companion to live out her life as originally intended before some crazy farmer felt he could end it for her early.
Dr. Zimmer asked us to leave Abby there, he would take a closer look and let us know what he thought could be done. We took a couple pictures for evidence sake, I asked him if I could leave my camera so they could get some pictures of the wound, it was hard to really get the full impact with the plastic guard thing over it. "No, no, don't leave your camera, I'll take pictures for you with my digital camera." So we patted Abby and left her at Pokagon Veterinary Hospital. I was starting to feel better, things were going to be fine. I knew that even if Dr. Zimmer's fees were as much or more than in the city, Abby was closer to home and still in very capable hands.
I pulled into Dr. Zimmer's just a few minutes after 9, Harry pulled in just a minute or two later. Abby got out of the car with one of those big plastic "lamp shade" collars (I guess the technical name is e-collar, at least that is how it was itemized on the bill) and a plastic guard "buttoned" to her nonexistent butt. I'm going to show you a picture of it and it's pretty ugly so be ready. ( 'Course there will be uglier pictures before we are done but you'll be able to see the amazing progress that has been made by Dr. Zimmer with this horrific wound.) My heart went out to her, it was the first time I'd seen her since we left her in Ft. Wayne on Saturday, she was moving slow but you could tell she was happy to see me. Her tail was waging. I had to wonder how she could even think about waging her tail. I would have thought it would really hurt but I guess I'm not to up on the anatomy of a dog, at least not what muscles do what, because I would have thought that the muscles that control her tail were gone considering the size of the hole on her back side.
It's kind of blurry to me right now but I'm pretty sure that it was Susie that greeted us and show us directly to an examination room. I will never, ever forget the look on Dr. Zimmer's face when he stepped into that room and took his first look at Abby, it was a holy crap look if I have ever seen one. A wow or woe or something like that involuntarily came out of his mouth and he kind of stepped back and just looked at it for what seemed like a few minutes at least.
Dr. Zimmer sat down in a chair in the corner and looked at us and said what would you do if I told you to turn around and take her back to Ft. Wayne. I said "well, I guess if that is what you told me to do that is what I would have to do, but I'd rather not." He had also reminded me that she had been getting very good care there. I told him I knew that but I had heard good things about him and he was closer to home and I thought he might not be quite as expensive (not that his care was of any lessor quality, just that things usually do cost more in the city than they do in the smaller rural areas) . Then I asked him what would he do if she was his dog? His answer was that he had the facility to take care of her and he would be able to do so, course being a veterinarian I guess my question was a bit silly but I wanted to know his honest opinion, would you put her through what she is going to have to go through? He said, she will recover from this, it's going to be a few bad weeks (the folks in Ft. Wayne had already told us it would take at least all summer for this wound to heal) but she will recover. That made me relax a bit. My original feeling that no bones had been hit, no organs and no major arteries, she was still the healthy old gal she had been before she had been shot, she just had a big hole where her butt used to be, I couldn't even consider putting her down. Money or no money I would find a way to take car of the vet bills and allow my furry companion to live out her life as originally intended before some crazy farmer felt he could end it for her early.
Dr. Zimmer asked us to leave Abby there, he would take a closer look and let us know what he thought could be done. We took a couple pictures for evidence sake, I asked him if I could leave my camera so they could get some pictures of the wound, it was hard to really get the full impact with the plastic guard thing over it. "No, no, don't leave your camera, I'll take pictures for you with my digital camera." So we patted Abby and left her at Pokagon Veterinary Hospital. I was starting to feel better, things were going to be fine. I knew that even if Dr. Zimmer's fees were as much or more than in the city, Abby was closer to home and still in very capable hands.
Friday, June 27, 2008
#3 - And the Surgeon says....
Monday, the 9th of June 2008. The surgeon at the Ft. Wayne Veterinary Emergency Hospital finishes his rounds usually about 10 am so we had to wait until after ten to find out what their recommendation is going to be. I finally was able to pick up the phone and call. The folks down there are very nice and demonstrate real concern when they talk to you. It's nice to know we've got those kind of people taking care of our family member. I can't even tell you the name of the doctor that came to phone, I just wasn't worried about that part, what I was worried about was, is my dog was going to recover from this horrible wound.
The doctor told me that they were treating it with a 'sugar' bandage. The sugar is suppose to bring the white blood cells to the surface which promotes healing. They felt this was the best treatment after cleaning it and trimming off the dead tissue. They wanted to continue this treatment for another few days then attempt surgery to close the wound on Friday. (I couldn't imagine how the would possibly be able to close such a huge opening, there was't any skin to cover it! ) They worked up an estimate on the charges. (cringe) $2200.00! I think I held my breath for a few minutes after that until I could feel the blood returning to my face. We were going to have to find an alternative plan. I knew her care there was good but she was 45 minutes away and just getting there and back was 100 miles, with gas prices the way they are and actually the shape our poor little car is in it wasn't even convenient to go see her not to mention coming up with that kind of money. For the first time since the shooting I was faced with the reality of the question, "am I going to have to put her down because I don't have any money?" What a heart wrenching thought that was.
I decided to call some of the local veterinarians to see if any of them would take on Abby's care. I knew it would still not be a "cheap" endeavor but maybe a bit less up here rather than at the fancy hospital in Ft. Wayne. I called the vel she had seen off and on over the years for regular doggy care I was told that he didn't do that kind of surgery. He had looked at her file which had been faxed to him from the Ft. Wayne hospital, it looked more like reconstructive and it was more than he wanted to take on. I appreciated his honesty and asked about another vet in the area that I had heard dealt with larger animals, I was told that the vet I was asking about did do more complicated things and I might want to call him. That was the seed that was planted which led me to The Pokagon Veterinary Hospital, Dr. Matt Zimmer, his wife Susie and their very caring and capable staff.
I spoke with Susie and explained Abby's condition, she asked me to have Ft. Wayne fax her chart so we did that. She said the Dr. would take a look and they would let us know. Later that day I received a call back from Susie, she told me the Dr. would like to see Abby so he could assess her wound. It was agreed that Harry would go to Ft. Wayne and pick Abby up the following morning bringing her to the Pokagon Veterinary Hospital. We called Ft. Wayne and made the arrangements.
The doctor told me that they were treating it with a 'sugar' bandage. The sugar is suppose to bring the white blood cells to the surface which promotes healing. They felt this was the best treatment after cleaning it and trimming off the dead tissue. They wanted to continue this treatment for another few days then attempt surgery to close the wound on Friday. (I couldn't imagine how the would possibly be able to close such a huge opening, there was't any skin to cover it! ) They worked up an estimate on the charges. (cringe) $2200.00! I think I held my breath for a few minutes after that until I could feel the blood returning to my face. We were going to have to find an alternative plan. I knew her care there was good but she was 45 minutes away and just getting there and back was 100 miles, with gas prices the way they are and actually the shape our poor little car is in it wasn't even convenient to go see her not to mention coming up with that kind of money. For the first time since the shooting I was faced with the reality of the question, "am I going to have to put her down because I don't have any money?" What a heart wrenching thought that was.
I decided to call some of the local veterinarians to see if any of them would take on Abby's care. I knew it would still not be a "cheap" endeavor but maybe a bit less up here rather than at the fancy hospital in Ft. Wayne. I called the vel she had seen off and on over the years for regular doggy care I was told that he didn't do that kind of surgery. He had looked at her file which had been faxed to him from the Ft. Wayne hospital, it looked more like reconstructive and it was more than he wanted to take on. I appreciated his honesty and asked about another vet in the area that I had heard dealt with larger animals, I was told that the vet I was asking about did do more complicated things and I might want to call him. That was the seed that was planted which led me to The Pokagon Veterinary Hospital, Dr. Matt Zimmer, his wife Susie and their very caring and capable staff.
I spoke with Susie and explained Abby's condition, she asked me to have Ft. Wayne fax her chart so we did that. She said the Dr. would take a look and they would let us know. Later that day I received a call back from Susie, she told me the Dr. would like to see Abby so he could assess her wound. It was agreed that Harry would go to Ft. Wayne and pick Abby up the following morning bringing her to the Pokagon Veterinary Hospital. We called Ft. Wayne and made the arrangements.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
#2 June 8th - we talk to the sheriff
Once we were home from the veterinary hospital the evening of June 7, 2008, I picked up the phone and called the sheriff's department of the county in Michigan where this had happened. An officer answered the phone and I said, "can someone just shoot your dog?" The answer was, "well, no, it's not legal to just shoot a dog, what happened?" So I told the officer on the other end of the phone the story I just told you. She said, "give me your name and number and I will have someone call you back". True to her word, a while later the phone rang and it was a Sergeant with the sheriff's department. She took my statement and informed me that it didn't matter if Harry had permission to be there or not, didn't matter if it was private property or not, didn't matter if the land was posted or not, it is a felony in the state of Michigan to shoot someone's dog. (It's also a felony in Indiana, but since it all happened in Michigan, it was the Michigan law that mattered.) The Sergeant asked to talk to Harry. Harry got on the phone and answered her questions and we agreed to meet the Sergeant at the little quarry the next day. Ok, now someone was going to have to pay for what he did to our dog. I was still miserable but at least I knew there would be consequences.
In the mean time poor Wiley couldn't understand where Abby had disappeared to. Wiley has always followed Abby's lead. He won't even take a cookie from your hand unless Abby has already taken hers. Poor puppy was really moping. He wouldn't eat and wouldn't go out he just laid there looking sad. Topaz tried to comfort him by doing his usual rubbing his face all over Wiley's face and licking his eyes, but Wiley just turned away from the sympathetic cat. Things were going to be different from now on.
Now it's Sunday, June 8th, I even skipped church because I knew I wouldn't be home in time to go with Harry to meet the Sergeant, I had, after all, been the one to call her in the first place so I really did have to be there. We had been instructed to meet her at the entrance to the quarry, which was fine by me, no way did I want to go on that property without law enforcement present.
We got there a bit early and just sat in our car at the edge of the road. A couple pick up trucks went by but none were the truck Harry had seen the day before. Finally a sheriff's car comes around the corner. She was here.
We followed the Sergeant into the quarry, drove around to where Harry had been parked that day and stopped. I stayed in the car but Harry got out and showed the Sergeant where he had been, where Abby had been and where the shots had come from. As he was showing her two more sheriff's cars pulled in. One was K9 unit. The office of the K9 unit came right over to me and asked me how our dog was doing, I told him that she was going to make it but it would be a long healing process.
Once they had determined where everyone had been one of the office's left and came back a few minutes later with a man. He looked very much like the driver of one of the trucks that had passed us while we were waiting at the side of the road for the Sergeant to arrive. They asked Harry if this was the man he had spoken to, Harry said no, he had never met this person before, the man agreed that he had never met Harry either but that it was his father that owned the land. After some discussion they determined that it was probably this man's younger brother that Harry had spoken with. They finished their discussion and the man left. The Sergeant told us that it was out of our hands now, the sheriff's department would take it from here, and we could leave.
As all this was taking place, Abby was still at the hospital in Ft. Wayne. We called a number of times and they said they were keeping her on pain pills and antibiotics until the surgeon could assess her situation on Monday, that she was doing fine and able to walk and eat. She was even wagging her tail.
Poor WIley just didn't know what to think without Abby around. She had always been there for him. We decided to get Wiley about four and half years ago. Abby was getting fat, lazy and bored. She didn't even want to go out in the back yard anymore, so we decided to go to our local humane shelter (where I had found her about four years ealier) to find her a friend. As we walked through the shelter that day so many years ago, all the dogs were barking and jumping up and making their usual "pick me, pick me" attempts, all, that is, but one. There was one very pretty golden retriever pup that was just laying in his cage looking up at us with warm brown eyes. He seemed so calm and quiet. "That one", we said. The lady that was showing us through the shelter said, "are you sure you want that one?" We said, "yes, why?" "Well", she said, "he's about seven months old and when he got here about four months ago we found him at the bottom of the drive way in a burlap sack, he had been badly beaten, or maybe hit by a car." Well, that was enough for us, poor baby needed a good home with loving people. We decided to bring Abby to the shelter to meet this new guy and make sure that they would get along before we took him home.
The next day we took Abby to meet Wiley. He pretty much freaked out when I tried to take him out of his cage, but after I caught up with him, I was able to calm him down and take him into the other room where Abby was waiting. They hit it off wonderfully, both got into the "play stance", you know, butt up in the air, front feet out as far as they can go. It was so cute to watch them play. The shelter people were very happy with Wiley's response to us and Abby, he had found his new family. We took them home and it took no time at all for Wiley to warm up to all of us. We did notice, however, that Wiley doesn't trust just anyone and it takes him much longer to get to know men than women. He's frightened of men with hats especially. Poor boy, we decided it was probably a man that wore a ball cap that had beat him and left him in the drive of the shelter. He's been happily adjusted since joining our family but has always looked to Abby for direction. Where she goes, he follows, he waits for her to eat before he does, waits for her to take her cookie before he will accept his. Not having her home has been very depressing for him, even Topaz doesn't seem to cheer him up and he and Topaz have a very special relationship, but then, that is another story.
In the mean time poor Wiley couldn't understand where Abby had disappeared to. Wiley has always followed Abby's lead. He won't even take a cookie from your hand unless Abby has already taken hers. Poor puppy was really moping. He wouldn't eat and wouldn't go out he just laid there looking sad. Topaz tried to comfort him by doing his usual rubbing his face all over Wiley's face and licking his eyes, but Wiley just turned away from the sympathetic cat. Things were going to be different from now on.
Now it's Sunday, June 8th, I even skipped church because I knew I wouldn't be home in time to go with Harry to meet the Sergeant, I had, after all, been the one to call her in the first place so I really did have to be there. We had been instructed to meet her at the entrance to the quarry, which was fine by me, no way did I want to go on that property without law enforcement present.
We got there a bit early and just sat in our car at the edge of the road. A couple pick up trucks went by but none were the truck Harry had seen the day before. Finally a sheriff's car comes around the corner. She was here.
We followed the Sergeant into the quarry, drove around to where Harry had been parked that day and stopped. I stayed in the car but Harry got out and showed the Sergeant where he had been, where Abby had been and where the shots had come from. As he was showing her two more sheriff's cars pulled in. One was K9 unit. The office of the K9 unit came right over to me and asked me how our dog was doing, I told him that she was going to make it but it would be a long healing process.
Once they had determined where everyone had been one of the office's left and came back a few minutes later with a man. He looked very much like the driver of one of the trucks that had passed us while we were waiting at the side of the road for the Sergeant to arrive. They asked Harry if this was the man he had spoken to, Harry said no, he had never met this person before, the man agreed that he had never met Harry either but that it was his father that owned the land. After some discussion they determined that it was probably this man's younger brother that Harry had spoken with. They finished their discussion and the man left. The Sergeant told us that it was out of our hands now, the sheriff's department would take it from here, and we could leave.
As all this was taking place, Abby was still at the hospital in Ft. Wayne. We called a number of times and they said they were keeping her on pain pills and antibiotics until the surgeon could assess her situation on Monday, that she was doing fine and able to walk and eat. She was even wagging her tail.
Poor WIley just didn't know what to think without Abby around. She had always been there for him. We decided to get Wiley about four and half years ago. Abby was getting fat, lazy and bored. She didn't even want to go out in the back yard anymore, so we decided to go to our local humane shelter (where I had found her about four years ealier) to find her a friend. As we walked through the shelter that day so many years ago, all the dogs were barking and jumping up and making their usual "pick me, pick me" attempts, all, that is, but one. There was one very pretty golden retriever pup that was just laying in his cage looking up at us with warm brown eyes. He seemed so calm and quiet. "That one", we said. The lady that was showing us through the shelter said, "are you sure you want that one?" We said, "yes, why?" "Well", she said, "he's about seven months old and when he got here about four months ago we found him at the bottom of the drive way in a burlap sack, he had been badly beaten, or maybe hit by a car." Well, that was enough for us, poor baby needed a good home with loving people. We decided to bring Abby to the shelter to meet this new guy and make sure that they would get along before we took him home.
The next day we took Abby to meet Wiley. He pretty much freaked out when I tried to take him out of his cage, but after I caught up with him, I was able to calm him down and take him into the other room where Abby was waiting. They hit it off wonderfully, both got into the "play stance", you know, butt up in the air, front feet out as far as they can go. It was so cute to watch them play. The shelter people were very happy with Wiley's response to us and Abby, he had found his new family. We took them home and it took no time at all for Wiley to warm up to all of us. We did notice, however, that Wiley doesn't trust just anyone and it takes him much longer to get to know men than women. He's frightened of men with hats especially. Poor boy, we decided it was probably a man that wore a ball cap that had beat him and left him in the drive of the shelter. He's been happily adjusted since joining our family but has always looked to Abby for direction. Where she goes, he follows, he waits for her to eat before he does, waits for her to take her cookie before he will accept his. Not having her home has been very depressing for him, even Topaz doesn't seem to cheer him up and he and Topaz have a very special relationship, but then, that is another story.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
#1 Abby's Been Shot!
On June 7, 2008 Abby, an eight and a half year old black Lab mix was shot with a 30/30 rifle from about 100 yards away. While Abby is surviving the wound, it has been a painful, emotional, expensive ordeal and our goal is to bring awareness to the general populace and set up some kind of financial support for pet parents that find themselves in a similar situation. It is absolutely terrible to have to decide if your pet should live or die simply because the money needed to get them medical treatment is not available. Here's a little history and what happened that fateful day.
We live in a small town in the north east corner of Indiana. Our family is Harry, artist and rock enthusiast, Liz (your author), Abby, eight and a half year old black lab mix, Wiley, five year old golden retriever mix, Topaz, four year old kitty and Jasper, four year old kitty, Travis, part time resident and my 21 year old son and Joe, Travis' life long friend. Our house is a small ranch style home on a full basement, the boys, Trav and Joe, have their living quarters in the basement, the rest of us pretty much stay upstairs. We have a fenced in back yard and a front yard facing the street.
Abby and Wiley have full rein of the house and the back yard but must be tied if they are in the front yard. They are both 100 pound dogs and although very sweet and fairly well trained still a bit much for me to walk (I'll tell you about the flying lesson Abby gave me later on) with a leash, so Harry usually takes them out to different places to run. Being a rock collector (and I do mean collector, we have tons of rocks in and around the house that Harry has brought home one rock at a time) Harry's favorite spots are old non working quarries. We take "Sunday drives" and have happened upon a few of these old quarries. One quarry, in particular, is just over the Michigan state line. It's a small, quiet place with a few woods along the rim, a small pond full of frogs, just off a dirt road. There are no signs posted anywhere. Harry went there a few times to look around and see if there were any cool rocks, one day there were some kids on four wheelers, he asked them who owned the land so he could get permission to be there and take our dogs for a run. Abby and Wiley were with him in the car. The kids said it wouldn't be a problem and directed him to a house just up the road. Harry went to the house, the lady that answered his knock said her boyfriend was down the road painting a truck, that Harry could go there and ask him for permission. That's exactly what he did.
There were two men in the pole barn type garage painting a truck. One of the men, the owner of the truck recognized Harry, he has seen his artwork and was familiar with his name. The other claimed to be the owner of the land. Harry asked if it would be ok for him to let the dogs run in the quarry and for him to do a little rock hunting. The man said sure, it wouldn't be a problem and after a little more conversation about the painting they parted company. Harry took the dogs back to the quarry to run a bit then went home.
Harry doesn't usually frequent the same place too often in a month's time or longer, so it's not like he goes there every weekend. He likes to let the rain clean off the rocks and would rather go to different places so he can see the change that nature and man affords. For instance, if a land is plowed there is usually a new crop of rocks that come to the top, after a number of rains you can get a pretty good idea of what is there so that's how Harry plans his rock hunting. Many of the areas he goes to are plowed fire breaks, no one cares if he picks up rocks in those areas. When Harry finds a place that is privately owned he finds out who owns the property and gets permission to go there, he always tells them he likes to pick up a few rocks and let the dogs have a run. Our car is just a small Pontiac sunfire so it's not like you can put very many rocks in it after Harry and the dogs are already there, that gives you an idea of the amount of rocks Harry might take at any given time.
So on Saturday, June 7, 2008 Harry, Abby and Wiley get out of the car in the little abandoned quarry just over the Michigan line. They are there for about ten minutes when Harry hears the distinct sound of a high powered rifle. He jumps up and down and starts screaming "DON'T SHOOT!! DON'T SHOOT!!!" at the same time he's trying to get the dogs back to the car. He was about 40 yards away from Abby when he heard another shot, saw a mass of fat and flesh fly off her backside, heard her yelp and saw her go down. Still screaming "DON'T SHOOT!" he covers the distance between himself and Abby and manages to get her to the car. Wiley, true to his name has avoided being hit, although he was also shot at. With both dogs in the car Harry yells at the man, "you didn't have to shoot her, I have permission from the owner to be here." The man says to Harry, "Well, you didn't talk to me and I own this land, I shoot every dog I see come onto my land." Harry yelled back, "you could have had me arrested for trespassing if you wanted but you didn't have to shoot my dog." The man said something about some time in the past some girl getting attacked by dogs, but Harry's concern at that very moment was Abby so he drove away.
It was early afternoon as he sped back into town, first to one veterinary then to another, they were both closed. He took Abby home and came to get me, I was visiting with a friend Sandy, at her store up town. I'll never forget him walking in the door, "bad news babe, Abby's been shot." It still bring tears to my eyes as I type the words. Oh my poor baby, the loyal puppy dog that has lain at my feet for the past eight years has been shot. Harry said, "she's still alive but she's hurt really bad and I can't find an open vet." So Sandy got on the phone and Harry and I got in the car, went back to the house to get Abby and get her some help.
One of Abby's favorite places to lay in the house is at the bottom of the basement stairs, it's cool and dark down there. I looked for her and found her there. I ran down the stairs and couldn't believe my eyes Abby's butt was literally shot off. There was a big gaping hole where her once over weight rear end used to be. Miraculously, there was no damage to bone, organ or artery it was a massive flesh wound. Abby was able to stand but couldn't go back up the stairs, the boys were being lazy and sleeping in their room when I screamed "help us carry Abby up the stairs, she's been shot!" Travis jumped out of his sleep and helped Harry carry the poor dog up the stairs and into the car. The phone rang, it was Sandy, she had called every vet in the area but they were all closed, they all said in case of an emergency to call the Ft. Wayne Emergency Veterinary Hospital. I did. I told them on the phone what had happened and they said they would be ready for us. It's a 45 minute drive to Ft. Wayne from where we live. Harry said "go ahead and speed." I did.
The folks at Ft. Wayne were very kind and understanding, they took Abby in, first weighing her. She weighed in at 95 pounds, 10 pounds of flesh had been shot off of her! They assessed the situation, we waited. They told us it was a huge flesh wound, that she would have to stay there and on Monday, when the surgeon came in they would be able to give us a better idea of what could be done. They gave us an estimate on her care for the next few days, it was going to be around $1100.00.
Now this is where the tough stuff starts. I always though people that spend thousands of dollars on their pets were crazy! How can you justify spending that kind of money on an animal. Well, I can tell you now that kind of thinking is just plan wrong! She may be an animal but you know, she's a member of my family, how could I not spend the money? Even if I had to beg, borrow or steal I had to save my furry family member. Decision made, we'd get the money somehow! We left the vets' office, went to an ATM cleaned out what little we had left and took it back to the vet. We made our down payment of $500.00. Abby was going to be ok, it was going to be a long healing process but she would make it.
So that's the beginning, I'll be keeping you posted on the progress from here and I'll be telling little tales of Abby and our furry family. We are working on getting The Abby Fund created, but in the mean time, anyone loving the fur bearing buddies that care to donate to help Abby and others like her can send donations directly to Pokagon Veterinary Hospital, 2520 US HWY 20, Angola, IN 46703 Attn: Abby's Fund. Your help is greatly appreciated by our little family and all those furry friends that need medical help and cannot afford it.I'll be posting pictures and more of the story soon.
We live in a small town in the north east corner of Indiana. Our family is Harry, artist and rock enthusiast, Liz (your author), Abby, eight and a half year old black lab mix, Wiley, five year old golden retriever mix, Topaz, four year old kitty and Jasper, four year old kitty, Travis, part time resident and my 21 year old son and Joe, Travis' life long friend. Our house is a small ranch style home on a full basement, the boys, Trav and Joe, have their living quarters in the basement, the rest of us pretty much stay upstairs. We have a fenced in back yard and a front yard facing the street.
Abby and Wiley have full rein of the house and the back yard but must be tied if they are in the front yard. They are both 100 pound dogs and although very sweet and fairly well trained still a bit much for me to walk (I'll tell you about the flying lesson Abby gave me later on) with a leash, so Harry usually takes them out to different places to run. Being a rock collector (and I do mean collector, we have tons of rocks in and around the house that Harry has brought home one rock at a time) Harry's favorite spots are old non working quarries. We take "Sunday drives" and have happened upon a few of these old quarries. One quarry, in particular, is just over the Michigan state line. It's a small, quiet place with a few woods along the rim, a small pond full of frogs, just off a dirt road. There are no signs posted anywhere. Harry went there a few times to look around and see if there were any cool rocks, one day there were some kids on four wheelers, he asked them who owned the land so he could get permission to be there and take our dogs for a run. Abby and Wiley were with him in the car. The kids said it wouldn't be a problem and directed him to a house just up the road. Harry went to the house, the lady that answered his knock said her boyfriend was down the road painting a truck, that Harry could go there and ask him for permission. That's exactly what he did.
There were two men in the pole barn type garage painting a truck. One of the men, the owner of the truck recognized Harry, he has seen his artwork and was familiar with his name. The other claimed to be the owner of the land. Harry asked if it would be ok for him to let the dogs run in the quarry and for him to do a little rock hunting. The man said sure, it wouldn't be a problem and after a little more conversation about the painting they parted company. Harry took the dogs back to the quarry to run a bit then went home.
Harry doesn't usually frequent the same place too often in a month's time or longer, so it's not like he goes there every weekend. He likes to let the rain clean off the rocks and would rather go to different places so he can see the change that nature and man affords. For instance, if a land is plowed there is usually a new crop of rocks that come to the top, after a number of rains you can get a pretty good idea of what is there so that's how Harry plans his rock hunting. Many of the areas he goes to are plowed fire breaks, no one cares if he picks up rocks in those areas. When Harry finds a place that is privately owned he finds out who owns the property and gets permission to go there, he always tells them he likes to pick up a few rocks and let the dogs have a run. Our car is just a small Pontiac sunfire so it's not like you can put very many rocks in it after Harry and the dogs are already there, that gives you an idea of the amount of rocks Harry might take at any given time.
So on Saturday, June 7, 2008 Harry, Abby and Wiley get out of the car in the little abandoned quarry just over the Michigan line. They are there for about ten minutes when Harry hears the distinct sound of a high powered rifle. He jumps up and down and starts screaming "DON'T SHOOT!! DON'T SHOOT!!!" at the same time he's trying to get the dogs back to the car. He was about 40 yards away from Abby when he heard another shot, saw a mass of fat and flesh fly off her backside, heard her yelp and saw her go down. Still screaming "DON'T SHOOT!" he covers the distance between himself and Abby and manages to get her to the car. Wiley, true to his name has avoided being hit, although he was also shot at. With both dogs in the car Harry yells at the man, "you didn't have to shoot her, I have permission from the owner to be here." The man says to Harry, "Well, you didn't talk to me and I own this land, I shoot every dog I see come onto my land." Harry yelled back, "you could have had me arrested for trespassing if you wanted but you didn't have to shoot my dog." The man said something about some time in the past some girl getting attacked by dogs, but Harry's concern at that very moment was Abby so he drove away.
It was early afternoon as he sped back into town, first to one veterinary then to another, they were both closed. He took Abby home and came to get me, I was visiting with a friend Sandy, at her store up town. I'll never forget him walking in the door, "bad news babe, Abby's been shot." It still bring tears to my eyes as I type the words. Oh my poor baby, the loyal puppy dog that has lain at my feet for the past eight years has been shot. Harry said, "she's still alive but she's hurt really bad and I can't find an open vet." So Sandy got on the phone and Harry and I got in the car, went back to the house to get Abby and get her some help.
One of Abby's favorite places to lay in the house is at the bottom of the basement stairs, it's cool and dark down there. I looked for her and found her there. I ran down the stairs and couldn't believe my eyes Abby's butt was literally shot off. There was a big gaping hole where her once over weight rear end used to be. Miraculously, there was no damage to bone, organ or artery it was a massive flesh wound. Abby was able to stand but couldn't go back up the stairs, the boys were being lazy and sleeping in their room when I screamed "help us carry Abby up the stairs, she's been shot!" Travis jumped out of his sleep and helped Harry carry the poor dog up the stairs and into the car. The phone rang, it was Sandy, she had called every vet in the area but they were all closed, they all said in case of an emergency to call the Ft. Wayne Emergency Veterinary Hospital. I did. I told them on the phone what had happened and they said they would be ready for us. It's a 45 minute drive to Ft. Wayne from where we live. Harry said "go ahead and speed." I did.
The folks at Ft. Wayne were very kind and understanding, they took Abby in, first weighing her. She weighed in at 95 pounds, 10 pounds of flesh had been shot off of her! They assessed the situation, we waited. They told us it was a huge flesh wound, that she would have to stay there and on Monday, when the surgeon came in they would be able to give us a better idea of what could be done. They gave us an estimate on her care for the next few days, it was going to be around $1100.00.
Now this is where the tough stuff starts. I always though people that spend thousands of dollars on their pets were crazy! How can you justify spending that kind of money on an animal. Well, I can tell you now that kind of thinking is just plan wrong! She may be an animal but you know, she's a member of my family, how could I not spend the money? Even if I had to beg, borrow or steal I had to save my furry family member. Decision made, we'd get the money somehow! We left the vets' office, went to an ATM cleaned out what little we had left and took it back to the vet. We made our down payment of $500.00. Abby was going to be ok, it was going to be a long healing process but she would make it.
So that's the beginning, I'll be keeping you posted on the progress from here and I'll be telling little tales of Abby and our furry family. We are working on getting The Abby Fund created, but in the mean time, anyone loving the fur bearing buddies that care to donate to help Abby and others like her can send donations directly to Pokagon Veterinary Hospital, 2520 US HWY 20, Angola, IN 46703 Attn: Abby's Fund. Your help is greatly appreciated by our little family and all those furry friends that need medical help and cannot afford it.I'll be posting pictures and more of the story soon.
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