They come to us injured and hurting...

[rpcrowe]

Toby is a four month old Maltese-mix puppy who was it by a car, We were called by a vet in Ontario, California who said that Toby's family had decided to end his life since they didn't want, or were not able to, pay for his treatment. Toby has a fractured pelvis and his right rear leg was so shattered that it could not be saved. I drove up to Ontario and picked up Toby. He was really hurting even with the pain medications that he had been given.

Our orthopedic vet confirmed the diagnosis of the first vet in that there was no way to save Toby's shattered leg. Amputation was the only resort. His pelvis will heal and our vet says that within a week or ten days he will be standing on his own and learning to walk on three legs. Tripod dogs do quite well. We have had dogs with a leg amputated who ran as fast and as hard as four legged dogs. This is especially true when it is a rear lag that was amputated. We are looking forward to Toby walking again without pain. Right now he has a Fentenal patch giving him long term pain relief and we are giving him oral pain medications and anti inflammatory meds...





AND THEY LEAVE US HEALED AND HAPPY

Remember Louie, the puppy whose hindquarters were paralyzed?
https://photos.smugmug.com/Pets/MALT...rgery_4681.jpg
Toby finished his aqua therapy and his rear legs are as strong as the were before the paralysis set in (we think from an overdose of vaccinations). He is walking around and running just like a puppy should. We are expecting to find this little fellow a "furever" home soon...





When we adopt our rescue dogs out. We make sure to find homes that have the financial resources to be able and willing to provide vet care when needed...

[LePetomane]

Richard, the canine community is lucky to have you and your organization.

Our last dog became a three legged one at the age of three and lived almost three good years. That little pup shouldn't have a difficult time adapting as he is young.

[Shadowman]

Nice shots.

[JBW]

Richard, Not wishing to get into an argument but I am saddened that you choose to not adopt out to people whose only problem is that they are poor. However it is your organization and there are apparently enough wealthy people for your needs. And your conditions are not outlandish.

[rpcrowe]

Brian, you wrote "Not wishing to get into an argument but I am saddened that you choose to not adopt out to people whose only problem is that they are poor."

It also saddens me but, we are advocates for the dogs whom we rescue. I wish that there was a way that people could get vet care for dogs who need it without paying a high cost. However, of the six foster rescue dogs who are sharing our home and recovering from their surgeries, all of them were scheduled to be put down because their owners could or would not pay for their vet care.

Louie, the little white Maltipoo above, who was paralyzed, actually had the euthanasia IV tube in his leg when we rescued him.

Our orthopedic vet (who originally came from Poland) told us that he worked in a vet hospital in the U.K. which provided services at a low or no cost. We don't have any asset like that but, there are some organizations who will occasionally have the funds to assist low income folks to pay for needed vet care. We always suggest that a person contact an organization like that. However, most of our referrals come from either shelters which don't have the money to fund the needed vet care for stray animals who have been injured or dogs that were turned in by their owners for euthanasia or from vets who have had a dog turned into them for euthanasia due to the costs of needed care; usually surgery...

There are, wide ranges in vet costs here in the USA which do not always equate to quality of service. We are very lucky in that we have a dedicated vet who has a large enough practice that she can provide services to our rescue group at a significantly reduced price. Otherwise, we could not help as many dogs in need as we do. Still, our vet costs range close to a hundred thousand U.S. dollars a year.

We are always looking for ways to fund our vet costs. One absolutely painless way is for people to use "Amazon Smile" when they are purchasing from Amazon. Amazon Smile costs the purchaser absolutely nothing extra but, in selecting Maltese Rescue California as a beneficiary, Amazon Smile donates a very small portion of the purchase price to our group. This doesn't amount to a great deal of money from any one person or any one purchase but, when there are multiple people purchasing items and selecting our group as a beneficiary, the amount adds up...

[davidedric]

Hi Richard,

I wonder if your orthopaedic vet worked for the pdsa https://www.pdsa.org.uk Thought I'd post the link for interest.

Dave

[LePetomane]

Brian, I agree with you that it is unfortunate because a lot of these people you mention would be fine pet owners. The problem is that some of these dogs that Richard fosters require ongoing care and veterinary costs can be prohibitive. What I have found is that if one drives through the impoverished areas of the Twin Cities where I live part time there are no veterinary offices.

[rpcrowe]

Dave, I will ask him when I see him...

He is a great surgeon and has saved many of our rescue dogs. He thanked my wife the other day for the "interesting cases" we bring him. He said that it keeps his skills up.

We are just thankful for having such a competent and caring vet relatively close by: about 13 miles away which is close by Southern California travel standards