Every Poodle needs their picture on a fridge.
by Toni Croteau
I was looking at our local shelter website for a Standard Poodle to adopt. I found a female in San Bernardino and drove right over to see her. I found a horrific looking mess there. No one new anything about her. She was the worse looking thing I had ever seen. Untouchable because of the filth and matts that were on her. I looked beyond them and had hope. I asked to have her taken to the play yard so I could spend some time with her and see what type of temperment she had. she was so happy to be with me. I instantly bonded with her. I asked them to send her to be "cleaned up" and told tem I would pay for the grooming. She had to be shaved down completely of course. They agreed. So they drove her down the street to have her cleaned up. The groomer started the process and right away saw an emaciated, skin and bones, severely neglected dog. She was awful. He called me in to see her and when I entered the room I was so upset at what I saw that I began to cry. It was something I had only seen on TV. I asked him to please be gental with her and to have the doctor look at her imediately. The Vet said she needed to have blood work done and to have an IV of fluids because she was dehydrated. I said "DO IT" and I would pay for it. After a slow and careful grooming and fluids and small amounts of food at a time, the Vet the test results came back and actually were all in normal ranges. The Vet said she would be a new woman with extra love and care. Three days later I went to pick "Sophie" up to bring home and foster, before I would adopt her myself. I took my friend with me to pick up this new baby. She was sooooo excited to see me. She just leaned up against me and didn't take her eyes off of me. She had hope. She was so happy. She imdiately jumped in my van and looked at me as if to say..."LETS GO MOM". My friend sat with her in the back while I drove home. Soon the excitememnt turned into car sickness. Sophie began to dry heave. It got worse and worse. I was almost home and didn't know if I should turn back around or continue home where she could calm down and just rest. I continued home and let her out to lay in the cool grass of my yard. My husband (who had not seen her yet) took one look at her and said, "Oh Poor Baby, she needs help." He was so gentle and loving with her. (He really isn't an animal person.) We sat with her. We held her through the night. I held her in my arms as she died that night. (She died of Bloat) I was devistated. Three days and I had fallen in love with her. I took her body back to the Vet to let them know what had happened. They were very upset also. We all had so much hope for her. We thought that love and care would be enough. The receptionist was very upset too. She was surprised because she said she had given her some of her lunch the day before. I asked her what she had given her at lunch. She said she had given her some of her burrito and she had loved it. I WAS SO UPSET AGAIN. I ASKED HER WHY SHE DID THAT? I told her that you should never ever give an emaciated dog something like that to eat and she should have known that. I was only going to give her brown rice and chicken in small amounts. I spoke to the Vet about what the receptionist had done and he said that it shouldn't have killed her. I disagreed firmly with him. I left without my pup and in tears. The only thing I had was the picture of her I had taken of her after she was shaved down. I put that picture on my fridge and it will remaine there. She is precious t me. I only new her three days. She touched my heart. I loved her. Click here to read or post comments.
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