REST IN PEACE SWEET BOY

Update 6/24 8:30pm It is with a very heavy heart that I write this. Owen lost his battle with pneumonia this evening. He gave it a valiant effort, but couldn't win. We are so saddened that whomever owned Owen previously couldn't have given him the basics of care. His immune system was so weak from neglect and malnutrition, he did not have the strength to continue.

Thank you for caring.

"They haven't really been taken away.
They have only gone with the Angels to play.
They have been given wings with which to fly.
All their troubles have passed them by.

Their life in heaven now must start.
But we'll hold their memory in our hearts.
Nothing about them will be forgotten.
But now they sleep on billowy clouds of cotton."

— Author Unknown

We were contacted on Friday about saving a gorgeous German Shepherd from a very high kill animal shelter. We couldn't immediately say yes, as we are just overwhelmed with medical bills and boarding costs right now. We thought about it over night on Friday and woke up thinking about him on Saturday. Saturday we made the call that we were going to rescue him and give a second chance at a fulfilling life. When we called on Saturday morning, Owen had already been signed off for death and was waiting in line to be killed.  Owen had mere minutes left. Had we not called when we did, he would have been euthanized. Why you might ask? Simply because of space.....too many incoming dogs to allow him to continue taking up cage space.

Jump to today.....Owen was transported over to the shelter vet for his neuter and it was found that he is extremely sick. He has thick nasal discharge, is lethargic and running a temp----all signs of pneumonia. Our volunteers have rushed out to the shelter vet to pick him up and transport him to our specialists that are equipped to handle cases like this.

We are all devastated that poor Owen is this sick. Our medical fund is depleted and we were hoping to raise some funds to replenish it before committing to another dog in need of expensive medical care. It is so difficult to make life/death decisions based on money, but unfortunately that is what we are up against. However, we will not turn our back on Owen. He deserves to have a fighting chance to get well and on the road to a new home!

Please help us fulfill our commitment to Owen. His first night of medical care including lung xrays, iv fluids, blood work, antibiotics, etc will run us close to $1000. A two day stay, which we feel pretty strongly that he will need, will cost us close to $2500.

Any amount will help! It's going to take a community effort to pull together the funds to save Owen. Please help.......

Thanks!

Update 6/23 7:30pm: Owen has double pneumonia and needs to be under 24 hour monitoring. Our volunteer is transporting him to the emergency critical care hospital now. The emergency vet is going to do a tracheal wash tonight and isolate him in an oxygen tent. We are hoping he stays strong throughout the night. He reminds us very much of Wyatt, who recently recovered from pneumonia, thanks to all of our supporters generous donations and well wishes!

8:35pm Owen is resting in an oxygen tent and has good vitals and good spirits. We just signed off the authorization for the estimate of charges....sigh.....we are looking at closer to $4000 for the 48-72 hours of care.

Update 6/24 8:30am: Owen is resting comfortably, but is refusing to eat. He is receiving oxygen, fluids and antibiotics. He was offered fresh chicken this morning and didn't even consider it. The doctors feel that his nasal discharge is so think that he can not smell it, therefore is completley uninterested. Our volunteer who picked him up yesterday from the shelter, is going to go over and try to coax him to eat today. We are hoping that a familiar face/voice will do the trick. Please keep Owne in your thoughts today, as he needs some serious strength to fight through this pneumonia.

4:30pm Owen is receiving the best possible care. He is resting in the oxygen tent and had a couple of visitors today. We've update some pictures on Owen in the intensive care. We will update you all as we hear more in the morning.