UpdateToday 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.