I haven't blogged in a while but I thought today was a good day to write about this beautiful, loving dog that died because a human failed him. Dante came to us on October 14, 2010 after arriving at animal control in DeKalb County, covered in buckshot. The rescue coordinator put out an urgent plea for someone to take him and one look at that face was all it took for me. I knew we didn't have a foster home for him so I started calling to find one. Within a few hours we had a plan and Dante would be rescued.
I arrived at the shelter to pick him up and he jumped right in the back seat. He was just happy, go lucky even though he was covered in wounds from the buckshot. We made the hour drive to the vet's office and everyone there fell in love with him. He was examined, vaccinated, heartworm tested and prescribed antibiotics to help clear up his wounds. We went home and got him settled for the night.
Saturday came and he went to his temporary foster home so we could get him ready for surgery to remove the buckshot. Beverly fell in love with him, too and said she would foster him permanently if we needed but we already had a foster home waiting for him. After five days of taking antibiotics he was ready for surgery and I picked him up for the trip to the vet. He had surgery the next morning and everything went much better than expected. There was no buckshot in him and he just needed to let the wounds heal. He was neutered so he would be ready for his new life once the wounds healed. I picked him up from the vet and he greeted me with his wagging tail and sloppy kisses. We went home.
Friday morning I noticed Dante was coughing which is not unusual after surgery and I knew he was taking antibiotics so there was not much worry. Sunday he went to his permanent foster home and he was still coughing so I sent additional antibiotics just in case he was getting kennel cough. He was still eating, drinking and being his happy self. By Wednesday night, Dante had stopped eating completely and was vomiting. Thursday he went to the vet where they diagnosed him with severe URI. Friday morning we picked him up from the foster and took him to our vet where he was diagnosed with Parvo. I was absolutely shocked and couldn't imagine that a dog his age had a puppy disease. Although, I should have realized that since his previous owner hadn't bothered to have him neutered, he probably didn't bother to vaccinate him as a puppy either. I was devastated to say the least but thought he could be treated and would be fine, after all he was an adult. I was wrong.
Since it was a Friday and no one would be at the clinic on the weekend, I chose to treat him at home where he would get 24 hour care and love. I had everything the clinic had to treat him so there was no reason to make he stay by himself.
We spent three days and nights constantly caring for him and giving him love and affection. In the end, he just couldn't fight off the disease so I made the heartbreaking decision to end his suffering on Monday morning.
Dante's life reminds us of the importance of vaccinating puppies so they have immunity to the numerous prevalent diseases in our environment. He also reminds us that neutering will keep a dog from escaping and ending up injured at an animal control shelter. Everything that happened to Dante was preventable but his human choose not to give him the care that he so deserved. As a rescuer, it's hard for me to understand the ignorance that still prevails even with all of the information at people's fingertips.
RIP Dante....I'll see you at the Bridge.
Michelle
