Dr. Hall at East Hill Animal Hospital in Pensacola has found another worthy cause. His name is Mullet--cute little fella. Dr. Hall sure knows how to pick 'em!

She found him on her recent visit to the Escambia County shelter. He has a broken femur, but he will be all patched up soon.

Mullet's medical costs will be offset by funds remaining from donations made to Precious. He will need a good home after his leg is fixed, so anyone looking to adopt a little buddy can call Dr. Hall's office at (850) 437-9932.

Dr. Hall and I are currently working to form a non-profit organization to help animals like Precious and Mullet, so all the donations made to Precious were appreciated and will still work to help animals in need.

Please pass Mullet's picture on to anyone you think may be interested in helping find him a home. 

Update

Today I received the below message from the vet attending to the injured dog, Dr. Hall. I believe she does a good job summing up the situation.

All visitors to this site can leave comments by clicking on the below link. A sincere thanks to everyone who donated to Precious' rescue and recovery.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to write a quick note to thank all of the generous people who helped the dog that was hit by a car and taken to the animal shelter. After the dog was brought here by the county, we took radiographs of her and found that she had a shattered pelvis in several places. She was a trooper and never cried or offered to bite anyone. We mentioned over and over how “Precious” she was. We treated her open wounds and placed her on antibiotics and pain medication. She responded well. We eventually found her owner who authorized us treating her more extensively. Her given name by the way was Precious. She was able to go home on Christmas Eve to spend time at home with her family. Though they couldn’t afford her surgery, through the kindness of strangers and myself and my staff working with her she was given everything she needed. I regret to inform however, that she did pass away due to complications of her accident (blood clot to the lungs- though rare in animals- it is almost always fatal).

Our staff was so touched by her spirit and by the failure of the system to work for injured pets. The money not used towards her injuries will be used to set up a “Precious Pets” fund for similar cases and I will donate my time and supplies as needed in the future. I plan to meet with the director of the shelter Bruce Rova regarding this matter.

One week later on New Year’s Eve my own personal pet “Tory” who is a 13 ½ year old husky escaped due to anxiety related to neighborhood fireworks and was reported (as I found out later) as a dead dog lying in someone’s backyard. She was in fact alive and taken to the shelter as an “injured” dog. There she sat for 2 days until the shelter opened again and I could retrieve her. I of course had called the police and the shelter on 1/1/07 and 1/2/07 and was not told she was brought in. Only after calling back did I hear of this “dead dog” call which was in fact my dog. The good news is that she is fine, but believe me, between Precious and Tory something has got to change and with the continued support of others hopefully it will. Thanks again for your kind wishes and financial support.

Sincerely,

Dr Laura Tonetti Hall

East Hill Animal Hospital

437-9932"

I will provide an update soon detailing the generous donations. Thanks again to everyone for their concern and compassion.

Precious Update

So much has happened in the last 24 hours. The outpouring of concern from the initial email yesterday has been overwhelming. It's great to see so many folks moved by the plight of this poor pup.

First, the owner has contacted the vet, and we've learned the dog's name is Precious. I'm told by the vet and her staff that the name is so fitting they were calling Precious precious even before the owner was found.

Several organizations made generous offers to save Precious in the event the owner was not found prior to December 29. While it does not appear that those offers will be needed at this time, they were certainly appreciated.

I'm told the owner has managed to round up the money to pay the county for release of Precious, so she will be not be euthanized on December 29! While that news is very good, Precious is still a very hurt pup who needs surgery and intense medical care if she is to survive. The vet who initially saved Precious from her fate at the pound will spay Precious on Tuesday, and she has arranged for a friend of hers to perform the difficult leg surgery next Friday, December 29--the very same day she was scheduled to be put down. Pins will need to be placed through the pelvis into the sacrum to stabilize the weight-bearing side, and the injured side will require even more work; something called a salvage procedure--if you think it sounds bad imagine how it must feel. The expenses are estimated to be at least $1,500.00.

So many wonderful people responded with concern to the initial email that I'm sure many people out there will want to make donations to help Precious recover from this tragic ordeal. Anyone wanting to make a contribution to the recovery fund for Precious can do so with total confidence that every penny donated will go towards helping Precious recover. In an attempt to prevent a bookeeping nightmare for the vet, I have been advising donors to send donations to me instead of the vet. I will work with the vet to allocate all collected funds to offset as much of Precious' medical expenses as possible. For those of us who wanted to save this dog ourselves but couldn't, making a donation to her recovery is next best thing, and I will update this blog as developments occur.

Anyone wishing to contribute to the Precious Recovery Fund may mail a check to me, and I will coordinate with the vet to defray the costs of the surgeries and related medical expenses as much as we can. Remember, it's not necessary that a few people do a lot; only that a lot of people do a little. Please mail any recovery fund contributions to:

Ryan Hatler
2900 E Gadsden St
Pensacola, FL 32503

Thanks to everyone for their concern, support and offers of help. May we all have a special holiday season and a wonderful new year.