"Angel"
and Her Long Road to Recovery
On
April 14, 2001, Easter weekend a 6-month-old puppy- pure bred German
Shepherd female was brought to Lancaster Humane Society in Lancaster
NH in horrible condition. Earlier that evening, Mila Rizzo, the director
of the LHS was about to fall asleep after very long day of helping
animals, when Lancaster Police officers arrived at the animal shelter.
Mila Rizzo thought, that yet another stray needed room "in the
Inn." She got up and walked to the shelter to meet the officers
and saw them carrying young German shepherd into the building.
The pup was terrified, drooling profusely and screaming almost non-stop,
like she was in great pain. Every time she tried to move or stand
up she could not. She appeared to be very friendly and made no attempt
to try to bite or show any kind of fear or other aggression. This
poor pup was allegedly severely beaten, kicked or thrown with force.
Again it never gets easier; “Her pain is our pain.” Mila
Rizzo later said.
The dog was carefully put on blankets where she was laying, unable
to move and there was still this great fear in her eyes. After the
necessary paper work was filled out, Mila Rizzo decided to stay in
the shelter for several hours to keep this poor dog company. Due to
the possibility of paralysis or internal injuries we had to keep the
dog still and stable until the veterinarian could be called. The first
thing on Easter Sunday we called the emergency number and Dr. R. Hoppe
from St. Johnsbury Animal Hospital quickly responded. The German Shepherd
Pup was put in blanket sling and transported to St. Johnsbury Animal
Hospital by humane society's volunteer staff. After careful examination
and X-rays, Dr. Robert Hoppe from St. Johnsbury Animal Hospital (who
was extremely kind to volunteer his services to the Lancaster Humane
Society) diagnosed that both of the dog's front legs were fractured
at the elbows and both sides of her chest appeared to be painful.
This poor, suffering dog we named Angel, needed immediate surgery
to save her legs, which would save her life. Lancaster Humane Society
staff transferred Angel to Dr. Kurt Kenney who agreed to operate on
this puppy.
The
surgery had to be performed on both elbows, in an attempt to repair
the fractures with metal rods/wires inserted.to give this pup a chance
to have reasonably pain-free, functional elbows. The surgery was successful
and Angel's long road to recovery has begun. She was moved back to
St. Johnsbury Animal Hospital for observation and then back to custody
of the Lancaster Humane Society.
Angel's
recovery will be long and painful. She was robbed of her carefree
puppy-hood, as Angel cannot run and play, as puppies of her age should.
Angel cries in pain when she moves certain way, she can only walk
short distances, then she must stop and rest, she
cannot jump or play. She cannot straighten her front legs. Angel is
petrified to be left alone from her caring caregivers. Throughout
her long ordeal, Angel never shown any fear or other aggression towards
people and is a very loving dog.
At the
end...Angel got the best home possible. She belongs to the family
of 2 of our dedicated volunteer caregivers, and has some beautiful
recovered cats for her companions. Today you cannot even tell where
her legs were broken.
Angel
got the best home possible. She belongs
to the family of 2 of our dedicated volunteer
caregivers, and has 3 cats for companions. Today
you cannot even tell where her legs were broken.
Angel
having dinner with her favorite
cat Vlad, also adopted from our shelter!
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