I am not sure what Sunny's life was like before I met her, but in 9 days this sweet girl has gone to Hell and back. Right now, she's alive. Right now, she's loved. But, things should have been very, very different for this beautiful Great Dane A1799456, we now call Sunshine, Sunny for short.
Trigger Warning: Reading the text below outlines certain atrocities committed by people paid to care for her.
Surrendered at the Shelter:
On May 29th, 2024, two gorgeous Great Danes, one male and one female, were surrendered at a local animal shelter. They were both incredibly sweet, and the female was obviously pregnant. We do not know their names. They were given numbers: A1799453 and A1799456. In total, the shelter had them for 9 days.
Meeting A1799456:
I try to help Great Danes when I can. I usually foster, get them adopted, then foster another. I have a medical foster right now, and adoptions are at an all time low, while shelters are beyond capacity. I try to help by taking video of shelter dogs so they get seen and saved. Sometimes they are saved, sometimes they are not.
She NEEDED Rescue- She was PREGNANT!
I was originally at the shelter to view a different Great Dane but stumbled across this Brindle Beauty, A1799456. She is pregnant, but I am unsure how far along she is. A regular adopter like myself cannot adopt her pregnant, because breeding more dogs just contributes to the problem, so I reach out to my friend who runs a rescue in another state. I know she will do the right thing and allow her to have the puppies, then spay and neuter all of them when it is safe to do so.
Most Dogs Don't Leave the Shelter Alive
Many Great Dane rescues are overflowing with dogs and closing to intakes, many all-breed rescues are only taking the smaller breeds. Dogs in need are at an all time high, adoptions are down and donations are at an all-time low. Rescues just cannot afford the Giant breeds. I was thrilled when my friend volunteered to take this pregnant beauty.
She is SO SWEET, and Younger than 3 Years Old
I spoke to my shelter contact and he said they could help by confirming her pregnancy and estimating how far along she was. This dog obviously cannot travel if she would soon give birth. If she was too far along, she would stay with a medical foster near me, and when she and the babies are old enough and stable enough to travel, they would do so.
I told my shelter contact she would be rescued. Please do NOT ABORT her babies. The rescue needed to partner officially with the shelter, but the website was having issues. Multiple times per day I told them of this. Please DO NOT ABORTIVE SPAY. Rescue is having problems with the website. They asked who the rescue was, I told them. They responded "Have Rescue Contact Us Directly." But offered no direct phone number or any help so the Rescue could contact them directly.
They KILLED Her Babies
The Rescue was attempting to make contact, but unable to do so. The website was requesting a password. I sent the error message to the shelter email. It would not go through. I sent them text, Please DO NOT ABORTIVE SPAY THIS DOG. RESCUE WILL TAKE AS IS (pregnant).....I simply got the cold response, "Have rescue contact us directly." I emailed the rescue's phone number, EIN, web address, everything so they would know they are a legit nonprofit. I requested a phone number she could call, no response. I would have driven back out but my very young son had painful surgery on his foot and needed me. The shelter is over 3 hours away, round trip. We moved our vacation for his birthday, so I could transport this dog to medical foster at a moment's notice. Soon, the emails I received took much longer than usual, there was an apathy that was not there before. Responses soon became inappropriate. Her data on the website said "SPAYED".
She was Spayed..... But Something was Wrong
A friend volunteered to head out to the shelter and check on her and the male dog she came in with. She told me Sunny was just lying there but she could not get her to stand up.
My friend asked if the person we usually spoke with about rescuing dogs was there. We always help with the Great Danes and had a great relationship with him- or so we thought. She was told in an unkind way, that he was in meetings all day and would be unavailable. Confused by this response, and the fact that Sunny's babies were killed when we had rescue for them, she made the decision to adopt the male dog that came in with Sunny just to get him out of there. All shelters are at capacity right now. Large dogs are always at risk of euthanasia simply because they take up more space. He needed to be neutered. She could pick him up the next day.
Sunny's Friend was Very Sick
When she picked him up, she was assured he was healthy and fine although he had just been neutered that day. They gave her no antibiotics, no medication for the pain, and no head cone so he could not open his fresh wounds. When she got him home, she noticed he was gasping for air through his mouth. She got him out of the car and into her front yard, but that is as far as he could go. He lay in the front yard and would not move. He was opening his mouth to breathe. She could not move him and stayed with him that night in the front yard. She went back to the shelter and got antibiotics for the dog that was supposedly "fine". There were no vets that could fit this dog in quickly. He is still very ill.
I NEEDED to Get Sunny
My son's foot was still painful, but improving to the point I could leave him with his daddy. I rushed to see this poor dog whose babies were aborted, even though I was promised the Rescue could take her as-is.
A local family was willing to foster Sunny, the Great Dane after seeing her video on a Facebook plea for help. During the appropriate home checks, I told her she would need to see the vet and informed her what happened to her babies. She said she had a vet she liked nearby, and that she has her own nonprofit organization called, H.E.A.R.T. (Helping Every Animal Receive Treatment). Her nonprofit, 501c3, donates money to people whose animals need lifesaving treatment and are unable to afford it. She said things are extremely tight, but would be happy to have her personal vet see Sunny the next day.
Something is VERY Wrong with Sunny
When I arrived at the shelter, I was told my contact person, who had always made himself available, was in meetings all day and could not see me. I requested to speak to the manager, who was at lunch and then in meetings all day- also unavailable. We were clearly getting the runaround. Why? This had never happened before. We had a good relationship. I helped network tons of dogs for them and did not understand.
Sunny Wouldn't Move
I am SO Sorry
I went to see this poor dog, whose babies had been pulled from her. I told her I was so sorry, It was not supposed to be this way. She was supposed to be saved WITH her perfect babies. I felt awful and let her know. She lay on her raised bed. She did not move, but opened her eyes and looked up at me sadly. I attempted to coax her to get up, or at least move. She would not. Her food was untouched, but all the other dog food trays were empty. She had clearly not moved in some time. There was a wet area underneath her raised bed. It did not look like her kennel had been hosed out, rather it looked as if she had peed the bed and it created a small pond underneath. I later figured out the fluid was not urine, it was pus.
She Has a Fever of 104.9
I told Kim, the medical Foster/Principal of the nonprofit organization Sunny's condition. She asked me what her temperature was, and if it had even been checked. I informed her no matter how many times I requested- they would not give me her medical paperwork. They said only if I adopted the dog could I THEN obtain the medical papers. Or, if a rescue partner submitted a commitment letter for the animal THEN I could get it for them. I knew this was untrue because I obtained these papers countless times without adopting or having rescue commit to an animal. The poor dog was clearly in a bad way so we made the decision to adopt her rather than wasting time with the rescue paperwork which was still not working correctly. I have pulled countless dogs from shelters all over for different rescue organizations, but this was my first dog I adopted. I wasn't even in their system. I filled out the paperwork and obtained her medical papers. Sure enough, they performed an abortive spay on her 06/04/24, three days earlier. The medical paperwork showed "possible pregnant" on intake. The day after I saw her, and told them rescue would take her as-is (pregnant), they did what they promised, and performed an X-Ray and confirmed the pregnancy, stating,
Technician notes: "...DVM [will] confirm and INFORM RESCUE...."
and
Veterinarian notes: "....counted 6 fetuses, may be more"
They Never Told Us
Rescue was never contacted that the pregnancy was confirmed. Rescue was not informed of the Abortive Spay until after the fact. The medical paperwork states, "...patient was pregnant- 8 @ fullterm fetuses"
A temperature check is apparently not part of the "Adoption Exam". I had to request it be done. Her temperature was 104.9. No wonder she would not move. I looked at the medical papers that were so difficult to obtain. They reweighed her yesterday. They had taken 25lbs of puppies out of her. They also did a "postoperative temperature check". It was 103.5. There was no treatment given. There was no plan to check her temperature today.
Apparently they thought rescue was taking her (as I usually pick up for rescue partners). The notes simply state, "Scan confirmed chip. All vaccines up to date. Ok for Rescue". I guess 104.9 is ok for a Rescue Partner to take her.
Underneath, it states "Possible Adoption" and notes state high temp, bloody nasal discharge. They gave her some fluid under her skin and Baytril, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, by injection. They tried to send me home with Amoxicillin, stating the reason for her high fever was simply due to an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection. I attempted to argue the point requesting a stronger antibiotic, but was getting nowhere. They just kept saying "We recommend you follow-up with your regular veterinarian." It was Friday, at 4pm. My regular veterinarian is closed on weekends. They just kept repeating, "We recommend you follow-up with your regular vet." They knew she was very ill but refused to treat her. This dog needed to get out of there.
Get Her OUT!
I precooled my truck for her so she didn't have to get into a hot vehicle and put her in the back seating area (seats fold up so she could be on the floor but inside the cab). She was lifted into my truck by the health care staff. I was going to meet the Foster at a halfway point.
There is Something Very VERY Wrong
While I was driving down the freeway on a Friday afternoon I kept checking on her. Great Danes are big cuddlers and usually try to crawl up front and sit in my lap. This dog wasn't moving. She was laying down on a white towel and Green and Brown Goo started draining from her nose. This goo was not just coming from her nose though. I kept checking back at her while I was driving and the white towel I had underneath her was slowly turning the same Greenish Brown color. She was leaking from multiple areas....... I kept checking back at her to see if she was still breathing. There was a LOT of goo coming from this dog. I could smell the infection on her.
Get Her to the Emergency Room!
I met up with the Fosters at the halfway point. We were supposed to transfer Sunny from my truck to theirs. She would not move. She would lift her head while we tried to gently coax her up, but nothing more. She could not get up- would not get up. She was just laying on the floor of my truck, making no effort to even try. She just lay there as if she had already given up. We tried to gently lift her but did not want to add to her injuries.
Sunny is SO Hot and Will Not Move
Kim made the decision to go to the nearest Emergency Room. The dog was burning up even though I had my air conditioning as high as could possibly go. I drove to the Veterinary Specialty Hospital in San Marcos, California. They met us out front with a wheeled gurney. Kim had called ahead and they were waiting outside for us. They knew it was an Emergency.
"She is an ANGEL"
The wonderful professionals remarked how beautiful and sweet she was- but were clearly very concerned.
They immediately took her in the back to assess and stabilize her. As they hurried back, they asked, "What is her name?" We just looked at each other. She had none. No name we knew of anyway. We didn't want to give the number on her cage card- the same one that showed she lost 25 pounds overnight...... "She has no name," we replied, just as they shut the door.
We were left in the waiting room while they worked. It seemed like forever. I have been left in the Emergency waiting room like this before. I've noticed the longer the wait, the worse the news. We waited and waited. We were all worried. Nobody wanted to talk about what we were thinking. How bad we knew she was. To cut the silence, we discussed possibilities for her name. Her name is Sunshine.... we will call her, Sunny.
After what seemed like forever, they came to us in the waiting area and brought us into an exam room. But Sunny wasn't there. Dr. Stevens came in and explained to us that she was very very ill. He was the green-brown pus coming from her nose. He said her spay site was "clearly infected and oozing pus". This is the same spay site the shelter claimed was "healing well". But, this was not his primary concern. He said there was green fluid leaking from her vulva. He took a swab and looked at it under the microscope. He said "there is wall to wall bacteria of all different types." He stated, she is just leaking pus and said he just did not understand how this could happen. He said it is supposed to be a "sterile surgery" and this "should not happen". He used phrases like "very ill" and "I am concerned" and "this should not be".....
They had already started her on IV fluids, antibiotics and pain medication because she was so ill and her fever was so high. I told the doctor I was given amoxicillin to treat her. He said nothing but looked down at the stainless steel table in front of him. He said she needed to stay overnight and they might need to redo her spay. They had already done an ultrasound and would need to do another in the morning. Surgery would depend what changes were seen in the morning. They were doing everything they could. We asked if we could see her.
We walked into this beautifully lit room with state of the art equipment and medium dogs in kennels. Some were getting oxygen treatment, some were just napping. Sunny did not fit in the kennels so she was laying on blankets on the floor. There was a card taped above her that said "She's an ANGEL!" The nursing staff had clearly interacted with her already. She was hooked up to IV tubes and wires. She opened her eyes as we came over. She got pets and cuddles from all of us. When we stopped petting her she slowly and gently nuzzled us as if to ask for more..... we, of course, obliged.
The Bill
Sunny was so ill she needed to stay at the hospital 2 nights. She was on IV antibiotics the entire time. When she was discharged, they sent her home with 3 oral antibiotics. She is alive. She would not be if she stayed another night at the shelter. All of this could have been avoided, and her babies would be alive with one phone call. But, that did not happen. Sunny is alive, and is with the medical foster. She is being spoiled. Sunny has a veterinarian appointment for follow-up on 06/25/24.
Please Donate to the Non-Profit that SAVED Sunny's LIFE:
Please help the Nonprofit that Saved Sunny's Life by donating to H.E.A.R.T. (Helping Every Animal Receive Treatment).
This generous Charity is unfortunately CLOSED FOR INTAKES until they are able to pay down Sunny's Bill. There are so many wonderful dogs in shelters being euthanized daily. Can you Help?
Please consider donating to H.E.A.R.T., a Charitable Foundation Providing Financial Assistance to Alleviate Suffering or Medical Care for Pets with A Good Prognosis When Lifesaving Finances Are Otherwise Unavailable. Over 95% Percent Of All Donated Funds Go Directly To Providing Essential Medical Care for Pets, having a Life-Changing Impact on Pets and the Families that Love Them.
SUNNY'S UPDATE!
She is SO Happy!!
Read more
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