|
Sitting in an animal shelter in Greenville, SC, waiting to be euthanized that afternoon, 12-year-old Toby had little hope that a miracle would save him. Picked up as a stray, the small Yorkshire Terrier had decayed teeth which had abscessed, tunneling the infection up through his sinuses and into his ear, giving him a blood infection. The whole side of his face was an open sore that wept fluid constantly. Who could possibly want him? There would be no reprieve. But miracles do happen.
Already active in dog rescue, Pam Fisher, a registered nurse in Charlotte, received an e-mail about Toby and found that she just couldn’t press “delete” and go on. Contacting North Carolina-based Yorkshire Terrier Rescue Network, Inc. (YTRN) to see if the rescue group would take Toby into their program if she and her neonatologist husband, Dr. David Fisher, drove to Greenville and fostered him until he could be adopted, the couple brought Toby home and realized just how sick he was. At the Fishers’ vet, Toby had his wound irrigated and his sinuses drained of infection. Some teeth randomly fell out and others had to be surgically removed, along with tumors in his ears. Toby needed two different kinds of IV antibiotics for at least 10 days and would’ve had to be hospitalized if the Fishers hadn’t been medically trained to care for him at home. YTRN helped pay the heavy medical bills. “Toby is doing great now, but we failed fostering miserably,” says Pam. “When we picked him up at the vet and his paws dug into our necks like he was asking us never to let him go again, we told YTRN that we wanted to adopt him and we joined the group as volunteers. Today Toby weighs 9 lbs. and is completely blind and deaf and the absolute joy of our lives. And talk about a little king, when he walks through the room, our other six big rescue dogs move aside. “There are so many wonderful dogs that need rescuing,” says Pam. “Thousands across the country are euthanized every day, many from unwanted litters because the owners wouldn’t spay or neuter their dog. I think it’s important for people to know that not all rescue dogs have medical issues. Toby was older and just had more going on with him when he came to the shelter. We think this is probably why he was a stray to begin with. Maybe someone realized they couldn’t afford his care, so they just let him go. We'll never know. We're just thankful we got that e-mail a year ago saying he was waiting to be rescued.”
In Memoriam
After spending quality time in the later years of his life with his loving rescue family, little Toby has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. He was greatly loved by his adoptive parents. YTRN thanks the Fishers for making Toby's last years loving and comfortable.
|
