Since we started our fundraising appeal, a lot of people have asked “Why do we need more money”? This is a really good question. Here at All Animal Rescue we are all volunteers who work for a living or are retired, so we understand how important every penny is in your everyday household. With the cost of living on the rise and many wages still not matching that, we know that any donation made to the rescue will be a sacrifice to many households.
Over the next week we are going to post a few examples of where your money goes and what a real difference it makes – whether it be £1 or £100!
Pip came in to the rescue earlier this year, sadly her mum had started to attack her and although we advised that neutering both dogs would solve the issue, her owners wanted her gone. When Pip came in to the rescue she was terrified and spent the first two weeks trying to get out of her foster mums house and would scream when you touched her: real signs of under-socialization and trauma. However, a few weeks later and her foster mum Clare (a.k.a Wonder Woman!) had worked her magic and Pip was starting to learn that life was not always scary and could actually be fun!
A month later and Pip was well and truly in love with Clare, but still very nervous about new people until we had a lady come round who Pip took to straight away and had decided she was the one for her. With her confidence on the rise and a new home on the cards, off she went to the vets to be spayed.
The operation went brilliantly and she was back to Clare and recovering well, however 3 days post-opp she developed a rare complication: the change in her hormone level sent her in to a phantom pregnancy and she developed milk and then mastitis. Any mum that has had a baby knows how painful this condition can be, so we placed her on to some very effective, but also very costly medicine (£80 for the course) called Galastop, bringing her out of the phantom pregnancy and allowing her to heal. A week later and (with a sigh of relief!) Pip’s body returned to normal and she was able to go off to her new home.
Pip settled really well and was enjoying her long walks on the south coast until two weeks in when running around on the beach she yelped and became lame. Her new owner brought her to our vets and after a series of x-rays it showed that she had bi-lateral luxating patellas at grade three (which to me and you is dislocating knee caps in both legs, that were at the worst stage they could be!) The vets were astounded that she had never shown any signs before, but some dogs are really good at hiding pain and symptoms and with the increased exercise it all just became too much for the joints. It was deemed that she would need corrective surgery on both legs to make them stable, at a £1000 a leg we had to weigh up if it was the right thing for Pip. Pip is only 5 she has come on in leaps and bounds and once the surgery was completed she would be able to live a normal life, so we decided to push forward.
The first leg was operated on and although the joint was extremely ulcerated due to the damage, our brilliant vets managed to fix it to a really high standard. However it was Pips recovery that she struggled with: the lack of exercise really began to frustrate her and her new owner became so worried that Pip started feeding off of that and too became really anxious whenever she was left. Ultimately, her new mum made the hard decision to bring her back to the rescue as she just couldn’t cope.
Pip is now fostered at home with Ross and me: on arrival it was apparent that she had had her previous mum very well trained and had become a bit of a Diva Princess! She has been here for two weeks now and knows that her nonsense will not be encouraged, with rules and boundaries in place she has relaxed as she no longer has to worry about being in control – dogs really do prefer someone else doing all this leading malarkey! The operated leg is getting stronger by the day and she is flourishing: really enjoying her play and we are going to wait until the left leg is really solid before we have the right operated on to make sure she is as stable as possible. Once her recovery is complete we will finally be able to look for her forever home: she is a real character and everyday she opens up a little more, and the more she opens up the more she makes us laugh!
So, in short, your donations have helped us to take Pip out of an unsuitable home where she was let down by her owner, have allowed her to be spayed, vaccinated, micro-chipped and have enabled us to pay for the vital treatment she needs on her knees.
All this will give Pip a long, happy and pain-free future, just watch the video below to see the happy, bubbly, nutty little madam! Your donations and support did that! Thank you xxxxx
Happy Pip 1
Happy Pip 2
Happy Pip 3
Happy Pip 4
Even if you can only afford a £1 it is a massive help, click here to donate xxxxx
