Tales of Aussie Rescue in Illinois

Well today is Hagar’s birthday. Since I didn’t know when he was actually born, I decided it was the day he was rescued from the shelter I pulled him from. Hagar’s story is a tough one, and I have told it before, but will do it again.

Hagar was running wild in Woodford County Illinois for a while when one day he ran across a busy highway and was hit by a car, a county officer saw him get hit, and saw him keep running across an open field. Animal control tried to find him for a week and finally caught him and brought him in. He was supposed to be treated with pain medicine for his injury. Sadly this didn’t happen and he spent 10 days in a dark, cold, concrete cell, with no human contact, no sunlight, and no other dogs to keep him company.

I went to evaluate him and was horrified by his conditions and the fact that he wasn’t treated for his injury. Hagar was paralyzed from his mid-back on, he couldn’t stand on his hind-end, only balance on his front paws. He also was not able to hold his bowels and was loaded with worms. It was a very scary 20 minute ride to my vet’s office, who wasn’t open for another hour, and I was frantically calling over and over, with Hagar crying the whole way.

When we arrived, he was still un-able to hold his bodily functions, and the concern was he was going to have major nerve damage. Once on the table we sedated him, and began the process to see what would be the end result, only to have him have a major seizure, something I had never seen before. I was scared with him, and worried I would be requesting he be put to sleep to ease his pain. My rep at the time said that they made little wheelchairs for dogs, and my vet felt he deserved a chance to recover. So it was decided to dope him up, keep him immobile for 2 weeks to allow the swelling to recede, he had a broken back, and was in a spot that was probably the worst place for a dog to suffer a broken back.

I took him home, stopping at Petsmart to buy a special crate that allowed access to him from every angle. The next 2 weeks I came home at lunch and checked up on him, changed his bedding and gave him medicine and sat with him. I set goals for this little black tri:

• He had to eat, and drink
• He had to hold his bowels and bladder
• He had to sit up, he had to stand
• He had to crawl
• He had to walk
• He had to run
• He had to bark
• …And he had to wiggle his butt like any good and happy Aussie would do

Then I would consider him healed, and ready for a foster home in Chicago, only he never made it that far, I failed, and I failed big time, he wasn’t going to go anywhere, he had met and exceeded every goal, and became part of my pack, and now a year later, Hagar’s having a birthday, he is not only getting pizza, along with him brother’s Cruise and Mocha, he is now officially my Aussie, I adopted Hagar today, 1 year after that fateful day in February of 2009.

Welcome home Hagar!

Illinois is in need of more foster homes. If you are able to provide an extra bed, some extra time, and lots of love, we could use your skills. We are always taking new Aussies into our program, many will be euthanized if we can’t find homes to place them in, and many are so scared from being with a family from puppyhood to then find themselves 3 years later taken to a shelter, and listening to the cries of other dogs now abandoned and left to die.

So if you can help, we would welcome it, we can also offer food to off-set the costs when we have extra food on hand, all medical expenses are covered, we just need your home to save this wonderful breed from what is a certain death.

Complete an application today and see just how rewarding being a foster home can be, and teach the lesson of life to your family. Foster Home Application

Meet Livy, she needs a home, and fast or her time will be up, please consider her if you are in the St Louis area.

Livy is a 5 year old spayed female up to date on her shots and heartworm negative. She is on the small side at about 30 pounds and has fit right in at her foster home and loves people and attention. Livy is fully house trained, does fine in the fenced in yard as well as on a leash. She listens very well and knows basic commands such as sit, shake, lay down, and speak. She has a lot of energy and loves playing ball and will bring it back over and over and even knows how to throw the ball with her mouth. Livy is very gentle and would do well in a family with older children. She has done well with the cats in her foster home but sometimes gets moody with the dog. She would do best in a home without other dogs or with a non-dominant dog.

If you are in Chicago and feel like meeting some great Aussies, come to the annual
Lotto Birthday Bash
K9 Playtime
403 Washington Bvd
Mundelein IL 60060
We will have prizes, food, pet communicator (phychic) and all sort of Aussies to meet and adopt*
From 11-2 Jan 31st Sunday

Meet Livvy our newest girl to the ARPH family. She will be officially in our arms on Saturday, right now she is in Missouri getting some vetting and some freedom from her smelly shelter time.

Expect Livvy to be ready for adoption in a few weeks.

All things are great in the Aussie world today, the planets are lined up just right and Ringo has a new home to spend his final days in. He will be going to a new family in Illinois, the same family that adopted Callie from us a few months ago. Ringo will get to have a great sister to play with and a home with children. And a great Mom and Dad!

Hopefully we will have lots of pictures to show in a few weeks of this special Aussie.

We have been contacted about a senior aussie whose owner passed away on Jan. 4th. Ringo is a 14 year old male. He is house trained, does not need to be crated, and still loves to chase a ball. Ringo was groomed at a groomer regularly, fed a great diet and kept vetted. He is on the smaller side weighing around 40 lbs. Right now he is living alone at his previous owners home, with someone stopping over about 4 times a day. I can only think that he is feeling some loss at this time.

If anyone is interested in giving Ringo a home he would be very thankful. He is just looking for someone to love and take care of him for the rest of his senior years. It would be a small commitment for someone but would mean the world for Ringo as he still has love to share. Please contact me, david.e.thurman {at} gmail(.)com

We are looking to rescue this guy, his name is Walter, he is in Springfield, if you think you want to help this guy please let us know. He is a red tri male, around 5 years old, he is partially blind, and he is also partially deaf and he is a diabetic. Don’t let that stop you, it won’t us, as we want to get this guy into foster care, and then find the home that deserves this seasoned fellow.

Stay tuned as we hope to rescue him very soon.

UPDATE: This Boy Is Supposed to be headed to Canada thanks to a Twitter Friend
Blue is between 6-8 months old. He has had a sad life so far, relegated to a yard and doghouse alone. He is deaf and of course not neutered, never put on heartworm or flea prevention, etc.