Sally is our newest foster dog who joined us on 12/01/98. Some may say her story is one of luck, but we think perhaps it may just be one of those little Christmas miracles... well maybe not to you but to Sally it was.
Sally was turn in to the shelter by her owner just before Thanksgiving (happy holidays kiddo). We believe she had been hit by a car as her leg was broken and had various abrasions along her leg and foot. We also think her owner had initially taken her to a vet because the shelter had XRAYs dated 5 days prior to her arrival at the shelter.
While surfing some of the shelter pages, I stumbled across a listing for a miniature schnauzer mix at a shelter about 60 miles from us. Very little was listed about her just her color/sex and that she was a mini mix. I waited several days after her availability date and called to check to see if she had been adopted yet. I was told she was still there and if I was interested I should talk to the "Vet Assistant". I called back I talked to a very nice lady, she said the dog was about 2 years old was very sweet but had a very bad broken leg (deeming her somewhat unadoptable and hastening her "out date"). She then added "will you be coming for her, she is scheduled to be put down this afternoon". That pretty much cinched the deal... although the shelter was a good distance from us, Nick & Rudy's good natured Dad, who luckily was off work this particular day, made the trip in the pouring rain (BTW LA freeways are no picnic in the rain) to get this special gal.
When I returned home from work anxiously I awaited our new arrival. Several hours later in comes a skinny little shaggy gal limbing along, the first thing she does is give me a kiss. Her leg is in a splint but it looks so much out of joint that it seems to more or less just be dangling there. We looked at the XRAYS they looked very bad (the two fragments of the bones were almost parallel). We feared that perhaps she would lose her leg, or that we might have her put down. We had an appointment scheduled with the vet but we would have to wait til the following day to find out her fate. In the meantime Sally got a new name, a nice meal, lots of attention, for which in return she gave plenty of kisses.
The next day Sally went to the vet. He said Sally's leg would not have been very bad if it were treated initially, but now that it had been over 2 weeks since the break, the bone fragments were misaligned and rounded over, the surgery would have to be much more extensive. But we were very much relieved when the vet said it her leg was repairable and she would be able to walk again (although her leg will always be a bit weak). We scheduled surgery for the following day and took home our foster baby for another night. Sally had her surgery on 12/3/98 and is mending now at home with Nick & Rudy. She has a plate and many pins holding her leg together which will get removed in place for approximately 6 weeks. We are happy to report all things considered she is doing quite well. By the way the vet estimated that Sally is really only 7 months old not even an adult yet.
Although we don't really know what Sally's real story is... we can only hypothesis by her injuries and her XRAYS. We believe her owners probably dumped her because they didn't think she was not worth the investment to treat her injuries (which two weeks ago would have been alot less tramatic and costly than now). Instead they waited 5 days and then decided to take her at the shelter where she had next to no chance of getting adopted. Sally... we think you are worth it, you are a sweet and loving gal. We also promise you next year will a much better year, we'll make sure you find a home that is deserving of such a wonderful loving gal. In the meantime we are happy to have you as our guest while you heal. Merry Christmas Sally, you have shown us that Christmas miracles do happen!!
p.s. To Sally's previous owners... we hope you find a big lump of coal in your stocking.
