UPDATE!
Thanks to our wonderful supporters, Gretel has met her fundraising goal. She is asking her friends who would still like to help to donate to Piper's veterinary care needs.
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/gsroc/pipper
We want to help all who have helped in our efforts to care for Gretel.
HIT BY A CAR AND LEFT TO DIE
German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County got an urgent request from the Carlsbad Animal Shelter: A beautiful one year old shepherd girl had been brought in with serious injuries to her rear legs. The staff immediately noticed that despite her obvious pain, this little girl was gentle and affectionate, allowing the shelter staff to bandage her legs and stroke her.
Despite our withering finances, once we learned that we were the pup's only hope of survival, we couldn't turn away. We decided that we have to try our best to save her life and named this little lost girl Gretel.
When we rushed Gretel to our vet, we learned that she had a broken pelvis and was in tremendous pain. Both of her rear legs had been de-gloved (skin removed) presumably from skidding across gravel when she was hit by a car. It was a gruesome site. Gretel could not move her rear legs, yet she acknowledged her caregivers with grateful tail thumps.
A special treatment using sugar to heal Gretel's wounds was employed. Sugar therapy is considered an excellent choice for wounds with large areas of skin loss.
When applied to a wound, sugar lowers the water content to a level that prevents bacterial growth. It also draws nutrient-rich fluid into damaged tissue, promoting regeneration of cells at the surface of the wound. Sugar also decreases edema (fluid build up) generated by inflammation and accelerates sloughing off of devitalized tissue. A bed of healthy tissue forms over wounds managed with sugar.
Next, our vet called upon the expertise of surgeon Dr. Foreman to perform the difficult surgery to repair Gretel's pelvis. The surgery was long and complicated, requiring that the tip of the femur bone be reshaped and repositioned.
We received the good news that Gretel had come through the surgery very well and that she was resting comfortably with a pain patch to mete out proper doses of painkiller. She requires daily physical therapy, pain management, antibiotics and wound treatment. She is still in the hospital under observation while her little body heals.
Now comes the time when our heroic veterinarians need to be compensated for their life-saving work. We have been faced with a series of very complicated medical cases, and we are desperate to raise funds to pay for Gretel's past and ongoing care. Of course, Gretel's health and well-being are priceless to us, but the reality is that she has a lingering debt of $3,000 that we need your help in order to remit. Please take a look at our sweet Gretel and think about how close we came to losing her gentle spirit.
Any tax-deductible donation that you can pledge to help "get Gretel back on her feet", will be deeply appreciated by all of her many fans in the shelter, at the veterinary hospital, and in the rescue. Please help us to help Gretel--you are the magic that allows us to make miracles like this one!Thank you for visiting my fundraising page!
Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support GSROC's fundraising efforts.
Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone you know who may wish to help Gretel as well!
UPDATE!
Thanks to our wonderful supporters, Gretel has met her fundraising goal. She is asking her friends who would still like to help to donate to Piper's veterinary care needs.