Planned Pethood: Sponsor a Pet Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
To pay for vet care of a burned dog
To pay for extensive vet care
How many pets did this grant help?
One
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
We got the call to see if we were available to foster a young black Lab mix. “Sure, we can do that.” I said. Then we hear, “Well, he has some special needs.” “Okay, no big deal, we can handle that.” “He has burns that you will need to keep clean and make sure he doesn’t scratch or get infected.” I’ve seen dogs who’d were burned before, both in our program and on the internet. We can do this! My husband wanted to name him Phoenix since he survived the burns. When I went to pick him up I was shocked to find open wounds that were blood-red, hair singed on his body and face, but yet he was so darn happy to see people! He wiggled, gave kisses freely and just wanted to love you. How could a dog that has been through this be so happy?
We brought Phoenix home and introduced him to our two dogs. He immediately blended in to our pack and was a perfect gentleman. He tolerated the “cone of shame” when he needed to wear it, he let me clean his wounds, did great at the vet, let me cut off the dead skin like the vet recommended, and he even let me put on essential oils to keep the wounds and surrounding skin moist so it would heal nicely.
When Phoenix was able to go to adoption events I would share his story about how he was found in a field as a stray and suffered these burns but we were not sure how he got them. Did he knock something hot over on himself, did he escape a house fire, or was this intentional?
Phoenix caught the eye of a potential adopter who was a Toledo fire fighter. She read his story and just had to meet him. She told me that her and her husband were looking for a companion since they had lost their dog not too long before to old age. She kept returning to his photo and bio on the website. She completed an application and we took Phoenix over to meet them. That is when she told me that she just had to adopt him because of this connection: While at the fire station, she pulled up his picture online and was showing his picture to some of her colleagues. One of the other female fire fighters who normally works another shift happened to see it. She said, “I know that dog!” She then told the story.
She was on a fire call that was called in by the Toledo Police. A dog was burned. She reported that when the crew arrived they saw some kids running from the area and Phoenix was in the middle of the field. The police and fire department called Lucas County Canine Care and Control and they took him in for evaluation. After tending to his burns for a few weeks, they deemed he was ready for transfer to a rescue (partially to avoid infection and to receive some more one-on-one care).
We determined that their home was perfect for Phoenix — it was fate! AND, they also adopted another Planned Pethood dog the same day, so Phoenix has a new sister along with a forever mom and dad.
