25/12/2024
Normally, I would write a joyful happy Christmas message wishing all of our GLWR family; adopters, fosters, donors, transporters, volunteer staff, social media followers, etc. a wonderful holiday season and post cute photos of festive weims in Christmas garb. And while I absolutely wish that for all of you, tonight another thought weighs heavily on my mind as I begin the preparations for our two- and four-footed family Christmas gathering tomorrow.
You see, on December 16th GLWR was contacted by a member of the IL Weim Club about two Weims that were found in a rural countryside area at midnight. When we contacted the Boone County Animal Shelter in Belvidere IL, Manager Kelly Jeske filled us in on their story.
A male and a female weim were found by a passerby in the middle of the roadway. The male (now named Wally) was standing by the female’s side (now named Wendy) as she lay in the road immobile and unable to stand. The Good Samaritan called 911 and the local Animal Volunteer Rescue Squad responded to the call for help. Wally stood right next to Wendy the whole time, not moving until they arrived. Showing no aggression, he seemed to know they were there to help, and he patiently waited as the volunteers cautiously and carefully moved her onto a gurney and slowly loaded her into the van. They were unsure of her injuries, but things did not look good. Both were rushed to the emergency clinic by the Rescue Squad.
Wally, an intact male estimated to be 7-8 years old, was not in great shape, showing signs of long-standing neglect with multiple old and new pressure sores and swelling, as well as skin, ear and eye infections. However, he did not appear to be seriously injured and was stable enough to be moved to the shelter later in the morning. Wendy, however, was not as fortunate.
While the Veterinarians were unclear as to what caused her condition, they knew she had significant neurological damage and was unable to move her legs or stand. They did x-rays but found no broken bones, there were no outwardly visible signs of trauma from a car impact, but she was clearly paralyzed. They tried to do what they could to stabilize her and make her comfortable; giving her anti-inflammatory medication, IV fluid therapy etc., but through the early hours of the morning and into the later day, she showed no improvement leaving Kelly and the doctors to make the difficult call to let her go so she was not suffering. There would be no Christmas morning miracle for this poor lost soul.
Wally, however, still had a chance. The first night at the shelter he refused to eat, he howled and mournfully wailed all night, seemingly knowing his friend was absent. Over the course of the next couple of days with Kelly’s loving attention he slowly started to respond to her kindness and care. She took him to the Shelter Vet for a further health check. He was vaccinated and given medications to begin healing his painful sores and infected body. His tail slowly started to wag a little and he began to make eye contact. He was happy to see Kelly as she tended to him, applying medications, cleaning his ears, treating his eyes and making him feel better.
When they had arrived, Kelly had checked both for a microchip. Wendy was not chipped, but Wally was. Maybe perhaps they could learn more about him and how he and Wendy ended up in the middle of a rural road and her paralyzed? The microchip company was contacted. The microchip registry told Kelly would not release any information to the shelter unless the shelter served them with a subpoena to do so. However, they offered to contact the owner via email. After a couple of days, they replied stating the owner had replied to their email and did not want to be contacted as they were “no longer breeding”.
End of story…so Kelly, the shelter staff and GLWR were left with nothing but speculation and suspicion about how these two dogs must have been cared for in previous lives and how they ended up where they did. Sadly, one life was lost but at least for Wally – his future going forward was going to be brighter.
Kelly, has been amazing, giving GLWR daily updates and photos on his progress. Wally has been so patient, simply enjoying the kindness, attention and contact. He is slowly, coming out of his sorrow and the loss of his friend/mate and to the realization that life was going to be much different for him going forward and the humans in it are not all uncaring and neglectful people. Wally will be transferring to GLWR when his stray hold is up on 12/27/2024. Just in time to spend his New Year with GLWR where he can recover and hopefully find himself in a forever home very soon.
So why the long story instead of just wishing you good cheer? Because as I sit here on the Eve of Christmas, a day of celebration gathering with our loved ones, the true meaning of Christmas for me comes to mind.
Regardless of your personal beliefs, regardless of whether you are religious or celebrate the holiday or not, everyone supporting the rescue/rehoming community deserve your thanks and admiration for the time they spend in the trenches day in and day out trying to “Save Them All”. Some say it is not possible…I disagree, it may not be in our lifetime, but if we each keep working to save the next one, fostering the next one, adopting the next one, forgo breeding another litter for a while, spay and neuter than eventually we can “save them all”.
So, as you sit down with your family and say Grace over your Christmas dinner tomorrow, please say an extra prayer so that the poor soul that is outside, abandoned or lost in the cold, frightened, scared, or injured will perhaps have a turn of fortune and a Good Samaritan or a Rescue Angel will cross his/her path…and be their Savior.
Merry Christmas to you all…my deepest gratitude for your time, compassion and continued support of GLWR and our mission as we move into our 20th year of operation in 2025. With your help and support we will continue do our best to “Save Them All”.
Happy Holidays,
Tonette Bogner
Executive Director/Founder GLWR
https://greatlakesweimrescue.com/donate
“Saving one dog will not change the world, but surely for that one dog, the world will change forever.” ― Karen Davison
