Poodle and Pooch Rescue of Florida: Senior Pet Adoption Assistance Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The money from this grant was used to cover Leo's adoption fee of $200 for the new adopter, and to supply the new owner with seven months of Leo’s heart medications.
We believe that, by offering an adopter financial help with Leo's costly heart medications, we were able to cast a wider net to attract people who would be willing to consider adopting Leo, a senior dog with ongoing medical expenses. With this grant, we significantly reduced the amount of time it would normally take to find a suitable adopter and get Leo in his forever home.
How many pets did this grant help?
1
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Leo is a special-needs senior Peekapoo boy who came into Poodle and Pooch Rescue’s care on April 19, 2019. His owners had taken him to a boarding facility in south Florida and never came back to pick him up. When the boarding facility finally reached his family, they said they didn’t want him and that if they were forced to come back for him, they were immediately taking him to Miami-Dade Animal Services.
Knowing he was a senior dog and very likely to be passed over at MDAS, since they have nearly 400 dogs currently up for adoption, the boarding facility called Poodle and Pooch and asked us to help. We have strong relationships with many Florida shelters, boarding facilities, and vets’ offices, who know we have an outstanding ability and deep experience in taking in senior dogs, providing them excellent medical care, and finding them new forever homes in which to see out their golden years. We often get calls, e-mails and pleas on Facebook to help senior dogs in the state because they know we have the compassion to help seniors in need.
We had Leo transported to one of our vet partners, Chuluota Vet Hospital, where Dr. Zern (the practice owner) examined him. Leo was aged at 13 years old, weighed 13.4 lbs. (thin), was heartworm-negative, had lenticular sclerosis, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and was coughing. His heart murmur grade is a 5 out of 6, he has good joints, his urinalysis was normal, and he had an enlarged heart with marked pulmonary changes due to CHF and a large spleen.
Our goal was to give the appropriate treatment to Leo in order to prepare him for a foster home and, eventually, adoption. After completing his vaccinations, getting a dental and being prescribed the proper dosage of heart medications (Furosemide, Enalapril and Vetmedin), Leo moved into a Poodle and Pooch foster home. Leo needed a special adopter for several reasons: 1. He was 13 years old, 2. he had a serious heart condition that required expensive monthly medication and it was unknown how much time he might have left, and 3. he required a belly band due to frequent urination (caused by one of his meds).
We posted Leo for adoption on Petfinder and are happy to report that Leo found his forever home and was adopted on June 27, 2019. He’s such a sweet, happy and loving boy and deserves to live out his final years as a beloved part of a family.
