HAW RIVER, NC.....Cherokee is a beautiful three-year-old Pitbull that was hit by a car and brought to Burlington Animal Services. This sweet pup has a left acetabular fracture, SI luxation, and sacrocaudal luxation.
Amber's Animal Advocacy reached out to me in addition to Burlington Animal Services. I have worked with them both in the past and do whatever I can to help the pups scheduled to be put to sleep that are Medical Abuse cases. I told them both I was beyond full and agreed to help Cherokee if they found a long-term foster for him since I did not have room or a foster at this time. If they could not do that, I could not move forward since I already had three new medical cases I had agreed to take on coming in.
I also emphasized to them that since it had been a while, he would probably always be incontinent and the foster needs to be prepared for this. I sent them information to help the foster and was also encouraging them that we do dogs with bladder and bowel issues daily and they have incredible lives, but consistency was the key. They agreed to my conditions and assured me he would be safe with them once we had done our medical.
We got Cherokee to Charleston Veterinary Referral Center in Charleston, SC and everyone was immediately in love with this beautiful sweet loving dog. Our incontinent dogs are always paralyzed so it was a delight to have one that could walk and was not paralyzed. We had three Specialists do x-rays, scans and everything possible including a full Neurologic work-up and Surgical Evaluation.
After four days in the Hospital, I had a good idea of what was going on with Cherokee and what could be done. Cherokee has a sacral break where his tail connects that had caused him not to have Anal Tone. He would probably need to have his bowel and bladder expressed for the rest of his Life. He is not a candidate for surgery on his broken pelvis because doing so would give him a 50% chance he could be paralyzed from the procedure, and he would probably still be incontinent.
His left acetabular fractures were old and had already begun to heal. To repair those at this time would also put him in danger of being paralyzed. We have to wait to see how he does in a couple of months and if it still bothers him, we would do surgery at that time. By then his pelvic fractures would have healed and been stable.
We told all of this to Burlington and Amber and also allowed them to talk to our Specialists. I let them know, it was time for Cherokee to go to his Foster since we could not do more at this time medically. We had spent over $3000. for his medical testing but felt good about this sweet pup. We got back a note from Burlington saying they were going to EUTHANIZE Cherokee after they picked him up.
I REFUSED to allow them to take this sweet dog and EUTHANIZE him. Either your word means something, or it does not. Cherokee was under Noah's Arks Rescue now, and I was not going to allow anyone to harm him. Will I ever help these two groups again, never. I refuse to work with any organization that lies to me when a Dog's Life is at stake. I became physically ill when I realized how many dogs they have done this to that are put down when good people donate toward their welfare to find them a home.
I started Noah's Arks Rescue because of people like this. You donate money to help a dog, and when you call to check on the animal, you find out the animal was euthanized. Please, ask about the animals you donate toward and make Rescues and Shelters accountable. Everyone is so focused on No-Kill they are not looking at the big picture. Animals are PTS everywhere in No-Kill Shelters. They are just moving them someplace else to do the killing, or a simple break is reason to kill a beautiful dog.
Every animal at Noah's Arks Rescue would have been euthanized over the last 16 years. There would be no Luke, Archer, Tibby, Bubbles or Freckles. Hundreds of dogs deemed of no Value. I was sent this quote by a donor this morning asking about Luke. "The greatest ethical test that we're ever going to face is the treatment of those who are at our mercy" by Lyn White.
We are the only Voice they will ever have. Their Life has Value and Meaning. When people don't do what they say, dogs are euthanized. The only person that can give value to your words is YOU. Cherokee remained at CVRC for another five days to understand his body mechanics and food requirements so we could express him fully and not injure his leg. I am happy to report this sweet pup has settled in and is a delight to be around. We will figure it out but will never KILL a dog because someone lied. We will keep the dog and never have anything to do with the people that were going to kill him.
Please, donate toward this beautiful pup. Cherokee can play just like any other dog and give kisses. He loves to go on walks and thinks everyone is wonderful. A lot of fabulous dogs are incontinent and live out their natural Lifespan with incredible Families that love them unconditionally.
