Hagar is my special rescue guy, he was running wild in Woodford County, in Illinois, and was seen being hit by a car one day by a county officer, it took 3 days to finally track him down, and he gave the animal control officer a run for her money. When she finally caught him his was still able to walk (in fact run) and she delivered him to a local vet for safe keeping for the 10 day wait period, then either he is adopted, rescued or euthanized. To give a little insight on the latter, the local vet he was delivered to was told to provide minor medical treatment, though the county refuses to provide even basic medical care. This vet is known for putting down all strays, wanting the money from the 10 days and the euthanization fees. Pretty sad really.

Hagar at Vet, doped up

The day I was able to review and evaluate him, he was being kept in a dark, concrete room, when he was shown to me, he wouldn’t come out of his kennel, he had no water, and little food. He was dragged out by the vet, and he was paralyzed. The vet asked while I was feeling him over if he felt like he had any broken bones, obviously he was never checked over or treated as asked, 10 days in pain, with no human contact or compassion, not a nice way to be treated by humans I would say. He was hunched over pretty bad, defecating terrible, and he had worms pretty bad. The vet asked if we should just put him down, I wasn’t going to let him collect another dollar and if he was to be put down, I wanted it to be on my terms, with a vet that cared, and me by his side.

I put him in my car, and headed towards my vet, calling every 5 minutes hoping they would answer, since they were closed till noon on that day, luckily I was able to reach him, and headed directly there, but not with a few stops on the way, Hagar had pooped and peed again in my car, requiring me to stop and clean him up, and comfort him best he would allow. It was the longest 10 minute drive in my life, I had taken a little time from work to do this, and looked like I was taking the day off for this poor guy. We arrived in Morton at my vet’s office, he met me outside, and I got Hagar out again, and he continued to go the bathroom, this was becoming a concern for my vet, worried that he may have lost control of his bodily functions, associated with his paralysis.

We got him situated, and started IV’s and additional tests, X-rays, etc., with me wondering what was next. I had never experienced a situation like this, and wasn’t prepared for this type of rescue work. The doc had left the room and no sooner then he was gone, Hagar went into a seizure, tremors and violent shaking, something I had never seen before, and it was scary. My vet administered an additional shot that stopped them and Hagar slowly returned to a normal breathing. He was next X-rayed and we discovered he had a broken back. Something I didn’t want to hear, and something that might mean paralyzed for life. It was time I thought to decide if we should stop and let him pass on, and not suffer any more. A call to my coordinator, a talk with my vet, and we all decided he deserved a chance. So on home I headed, with my little black tri puppy, knocked out to the world.

Hagar recovered

Hagar laid in his crate for almost 2 weeks, not moving, drinking some water, kept doped up and eating just a few bits of dry food. This was the crunch-time, the time that would decide if he walked or was disabled for life. Hagar is a fighter, and fighting was what he did, he slowly woobled up on his front legs, he started to hold his bathroom breaks, he started to drink and eat more, and he started to stand up! He even would leave his crate when we weren’t looking! He was slowly coming back, and I decided he would stay with me until he met some goals.

1. He had to walk on his own.
2. He had to run in the back yard.
3. He had to bark, he hadn’t made one noise since home with me.
4. He had to wag his butt! An honest to goodness Aussie wag!

He did that and more, jumping, playing, begging, coming to his name and that did it for me, he wasn’t going anywhere, he was staying with me, I flunked Fostering 101.

So next week he gets neutered and checked out one more time, and once his procedure is completed, we will begin the adoption process with ARPH.

Welcome home Hagar!