No kill shelter broken into twice in 2 days, trashed needs help, was going to help lisaviolet

@moondrake Oh my gosh. I hope your dog is OK. I’ll suggest to Peggy that they try that for another pickup truck. Thanks for your suggestion.

@moondrake i am so sorry your beloved companion is not doing well… it hurts so much. you did not tell us his name? i so hope he turns around . keep us updated.

@mick Simba. The love of my life, heart of my heart. The last living thing in this world I truly love, that truly loves me. I think I’m losing him. He still won’t eat anything, it’s been 4.5 days, he’s lost 9lbs and he’s getting weaker by the minute. Symptoms point to liver disease, but the vet didn’t see anything on the ultrasound or xrays, she’s sent them to a specialist who’s supposed to call on Friday. If we still can’t pin down what’s wrong then she’s going to give him an appetite stimulant and she intimated that she’d let me have a few more days of antiemetics. I’m going to ask her about at least one dose of tube feeding to give him some strength. But he’s starting to get that all too familiar look of giving up. Not all the time, but when he’s been laying still for a while. I’m so sick at heart. Sorry, don’t want to hijack the thread, this is important work helping the rescue.

@moondrake I wish you all the best. That’s so sad.

@moondrake It is so heartbreaking when our buddies have serious health problems and may not recover. I hope the appetite stimulant helps. Is he dehydrated since he isn’t eating? If he is that doesn’t help.

One of my cats got like this and I had to force feed her for nearly 3 weeks before she turned the corner. Vet never did figure out what was wrong with her. The appetite stimulant helped with her somewhat but I still had to supplement that.

Good luck.

@moondrake what a great looking dog Simba! so well taken care of. i should have asked how old Simba is? i know, you know very large dogs have a shorter life expectancy. we outlive our beloved canine companions. it hurts, but it is true. i have been in your place a few times. ( I think I’m losing him)… i am so sorry moondrake. you will do what is best for Simba. i am going to think about you and Simba. please let me know, how things go.

@mick He’s 10.5, quite old for a dane, they average 7-8 years. But all my others have made it to 11-13, and I have had such a devastating year I just needed him to hold on for me for a little longer. My (human) best friend died unexpectedly this time last year and I have been terribly depressed, coming up on the first anniversary of his death is so hard, and now it looks like I’m losing Simba, too. I am hoping for good news from the specialist later today but I don’t think the odds are very good for that. What I most fear are still more inconclusive results, being left with no idea what’s wrong or whether I should keep fighting or let him go.

@moondrake I’m so very sorry. He’s a beautiful boy.

@moondrake What did the specialist say?

@Kidsandliz Thanks for asking. I’m very annoyed with his clinic. When I called the sister clinic at 9am on Friday where they sent me for the ultrasound and xrays (the main clinic is being remodeled and they are working put of portables in the main clinic), the vet that said she’d call me wasn’t even working that day. I asked if there was someone else I could speak to and they told me to call the main clinic. So I did and they said they’d ask a doctor to call me. I called again at 11, they said be patient. I called again at 3, they said be patient. I called at 5:30 and they said all the doctors were gone for the day. The clinic’s open till 8 so I got a little short with them and told them they needed to get someone on the phone to authorize a new box of antiemetics as his current box was going to run out and no one over there was telling me what to do. Yesterday I started force feeding him and he’s tolerating the food and getting stronger, but totally fighting me and refusing to eat. I didn’t bother trying to call the clinic today as their best doctors work weekdays, so I’ll stay in this holding pattern till Monday. But I am not happy.

@moondrake Well that fucking sucks that you are being blown off that way…Glad at least force feeding him is helping even if he hates it. Did they call in the antiemetics?

I so hate when medical personnel (and that includes MD’s and vets) do shit like this. If it was their dog they’d raise a huge stink.

I’ve had this kind of crap happen to me as a human as well with things that really mattered - twice with a cancer dx (took them 5 mo to call and when I’d call I’d get some excuse, I couldn’t stand it and went and got the CT scan results from medical records and then filed a complaint; with the breast cancer the radiologist told me at the apt, the MD took 3 weeks to call), when I had shingles and you need to get the antiviral within 48 hours, I ended up going to the ER to get it in time at a cost of nearly $500 instead of $30, and when my counts were nearly non-existant during chemo picked up the blood work myself, saw the problem and they never did call me, fought with them for 2 days for an apt to get the neulasta shot (that I had routinely gotten with higher counts so go figure)… When people don’t do their jobs with stuff like this is really matters. And some vets, MD’s and their office staff just don’t seem to care.

I hope you can get hold of someone Monday. Maybe be at their door when they open.

@moondrake been thinking about simba and you all weekend… so what is going on???

@mick You’re so sweet, thank you for your thoughts. I finally reached the vet, and it’s just what I was afraid of. They still have no idea. Everything on the ultrasound and xrays looked fine, except his spleen was large, although healthy looking and within the acceptable size range. However, he’s so big that neither the ultrasound nor xrays fully penetrated, so there may be stuff in the thicker tissue. She said they could do exploratory surgery, but she and I agreed that at his age the anesthesia and recovery would be very difficult, possibly fatal, and was not a good choice. So the only thing left diagnostically was to maybe get a CT scan at the emergency clinic. But based on the symptoms and absence of obvious problems on the scans, she thinks it’s very likely cancer. Again with his age I am reluctant to put him through chemo if this is the case. I would rather him have a shorter life with better quality than drag him through drastic measures. So the plan at the moment is for me to take him to the clinic where he’ll finally see his regular vet (all this has been done through various clinic vets on duty), get another b12 shot, some subq fluids if needed, an appetite enhancer and some more antiemetics and see if he will start eating again. If so then we can see if he improves overall or declines. If he will not start eating again then I am probably be going to make the decision to euthanize him in the next week or so. He’s getting by on force feeding but he hates it and it hurts his feelings and pride. I don’t want to keep him alive by forcing pills and food down his throat all day. Yet he’s still happy and engaged in between. This is such a hard decision, with my other dogs it was clearly their time. I love him most of all and for the path not to be clear is so awful.

@moondrake

I hope he comes back a bit. I am so sorry to hear this news.

@moondrake Yes really hard to know what to do when they are also enjoying life as they are going downhill…

@moondrake i am sorry for simba and you.
all your thoughts and actions are so right.
i waited a couple of days… hoping and wishing you will have some good news about simba.
i have not stop thinking about you two.
because, you have not said anything… tell me, the not so good news…

@mick I’m really still in the same boat. He has been refusing food for 12 days now. I’m force feeding him 4x a day and every time is a fight, I only get half of it in him. Pilling is easier, but still unpleasant, he’s on 12 pills a day. His pride and enjoyment of life are greatly reduced by feeling ill, vomiting and diahrrea, and me shoving something down his throat every time he turns around. He’s not playing, he has no energy, his coat is dry and lackluster. But he’s ambulatory, other than being skinny he looks like himself. He’s interested in his environment and still loves car rides. We could go on like this indefinitely, except in 2 weeks I am supposed to be leaving on a 11 day vacation. I’ve spent a couple thousand on this trip and it’s a two part trip with two different friends, one of whom is disabled and is counting on me to help her. Also part of this trip is to look in on a spinster aunt who has Alzheimers and lives alone in an isolated area on the other side of the country, the family thinks she may need some kind of intervention. My vet says they’ll board him but he’ll be locked in a little enclosure and I have no doubt they’ll have to employ extreme measures to feed and medicate him. If this is terminal I don’t want him to end his life like that. If he would just eat I could go with my original plan and have my friend stay with him. But my friend has never even had a pet, he’s not going to be able to force feed him. I don’t know of anyone who can provide that level of in home care.

@moondrake What about hiring a vet tech? I did that once for one of my cats who had diabetes and I couldn’t find anyone to give him his shot. Then have your friend come in too so your dog has more company.

@Kidsandliz Thanks. I’ve been looking for one that does petsitting but no luck so far. I don’t know if one would be willing to come in 4x a day, they’d have to live close by. He used to eat 4.5 cups a day, he’s getting 2 cups less what fails to end up inside him now.

@moondrake Where in the country do you live? I am unemployed for the next 6 weeks. As long as you didn’t mind cats kept in a bedroom…

@Kidsandliz Far west Texas. If you don’t live here, you don’t live near. After thinking about your suggestion I looked at Rover.com. I was avoiding them as the last trip I went on I hired through them and the sitter canceled on me the day before my trip. But given the situation they are worth another try. I did find two vet techs. I’m interviewing one tonight and one tomorrow evening. Hopefully one of them will work out. I’m still uncertain if stringing him along like this is fair to him, but at least whatever decision I make won’t have to be made based on my travel. Thanks, you’re a sweetheart.

@moondrake Also call your local no kill shelter and see if they have a foster family who would help either for a donation to the shelter, donation to them of pet food, or for pay. I know that several locally have taken in people’s pets while they have been out of town for a month or more.

@moondrake Nope don’t live near west TX. I am east of Houston by about 7.5 hours. Too bad.

@moondrake… i have had many animal companions, all my life, because i love them and they enrich my life. but, i have also been in your position more times than i ever wanted.

so, this makes me very sad… i was hoping… but Simba being ok again? is not happening. the force feeding with the vomiting and diarrhea, means his body is rejecting food. that’s why he doesn’t want to eat. it is painful. at his age and 12 days with medication and the feedings and no improvement? i think it is long enough. life is not enjoyable now, for Simba or you.
this is very hard for me to say moondrake, heartbreakingly so. i think it is time to let Simba go… i hope i did not overstep. i wish you only the best.

@lisaviolet Thanks. I know. The dogs are all in kennels, but most of the cats are loose in 3 cat rooms. Had those doors been left open it would have been tragic.

@PantHeist I have no idea. There is an abandoned house next door to them and they found some of the stuff there, for example blankets, and I can see a motivation for blankets… no clue. They broke into a neighboring business as well. No idea if the homeless then went in after the thieves and left with blankets or if they were the original crooks. As far as I know they haven’t arrested anyone yet.

@Kidsandliz
Sounds like it may have been just people kinda looking for stuff and also just breaking into places for the hell of it.

So sorry. I’ll send them something.

You know if there is a cheap way to get supplies from here to there? Might be able to donate some pet carriers or something as well.

@f00l I know of no way to do that, but if you email me privately and let me know where you live I could ask Peggy if any of the transport networks they are part of could get them here.

@lisaviolet If this is a larger city they might be able to get a construction company to donate some used chainlink. They go through a lot of it on sites. The trick for corporate donation is usually, “who might have what I need laying around that would find a tax write off and some good pr more valuable than the items?” Since this is getting press right now, this is the time to make your asks, and be sure to thank the corporate givers by company name in interviews.

@lisaviolet Peggy told me they actually need more than that but were just asking for the critical items to try and get that done first. I’ll call her and see where they are right now. The insurance company hasn’t ruled on the truck yet (eg fix or total, they will still have the deductible to pay).

@moondrake
@kidsandliz

If you put up big signs on fences or whatever saying “Fence Donated By ‘Awesome Great Company, Inc’”, that can help.

PS @moondrake so sorry to hear. That is tough.

@moondrake I will call around and see what I can find. This area is around 300,000 people or so I think.

@moondrake I been calling around and one larger fence place that does home fences and construction fences the guy who answered the phone is going to talk with the owner to see if they can help them out. Don’t know if that means free and donated for the tax write off or wholesale fence prices/discounted for used fence prices and free or cheap labor… but anything is better than nothing. They are family owned which to me seems more promising than large corporate. Thanks again for the suggestion. If this comes through they will still need money as apparently a huge amount of the animal food was also stolen.

@Kidsandliz how about automotive zip ties to repair the fence? They’re dirt cheap and very strong. Not pretty, but if they’re actually hurting for money it might be better than begging.

@PantHeist I will suggest that. It certainly would be a temporary solution. They’d need hundreds of them though (Yes I know still cheaper).

@Kidsandliz
I’ve used that green plastic colored heavy twisted wire you can get at Home Depot for temp repairs of that sort. Pretty inexpensive. So are zipties in quantity.

@PantHeist Dogs can chew through those ties and they get brittle over time and it might not be noticed that they were wearing out till an animal was loose. If they are going to get donations it will be now when the incident is fresh in people’s minds. Using stopgaps (literally in this case) is a short run solution, and they really should try to use their current momentum to put permanent solutions in place.

@moondrake in that case, why not use wire to close the gaps? I can’t think of many situations where 20k+ to repair a fence is the most economical option.

@PantHeist They talked about that. They have more than an acre, the fence just isn’t snipped in a few places - it is ripped up all over the place, bent up - this wasn’t just cut a spot or two to get in, this was also a vandalism spree to ruin things beyond fixing. Right now they’ve wired one section (so they can put them outside to toilet without having to stand there with them on a leash ) and put boards where it was really torn up and bent to shit in the sections they have fixed that way.

@Kidsandliz Auto parts store that carries upholstery tools (many Napa stores do). Hog ring pliers and hog rings that are used to attach seat covers to the frames might work for reattaching chain link sections. Example here.

Rings in bulk should be pretty cheap; they are strong, and the ones I’ve seen are galvanized so should last a while. Depends on how badly the fences were damaged if they’ll be usable. Still a stopgap but maybe better than nylon wire ties.

@Kidsandliz There are some great videos on repairing chain link fencing (if that’s what it was) on Youtube. It’s a pain to fix, but there’s no reason to replace the entire fence when you can repair it. I have 4’ and 5’ chain link fencing and 5’ 2"x4" non-climb fencing on my farm. The chain link is easier to repair. I made a fencing stretcher with a 2x4 & nails. It works great. Too many people throw away good things these days, not enough people fix them.
Berry wire works as a permanent repair wire for patching holes, a pair of fencing pliers & a pair of large waterpump pliers also… Zip ties won’t work. You’ll have to weave the wire in.

@f00l @kidsandliz They can also speak to Home Depot about help. My husband is a manager at one here in Georgia and they do projects in the community a lot. So I’d have someone call and ask for the store manager, explain the situation and ask if there is anything they can do. Also, if they haven’t already, the shelter can set up a list on Amazon of things sold on the site they need,leashes, collars, blankets, etc. People can buy them and pay for them on the site and they ship straight to the shelter.

@daveinwarsh I appreciate the suggestion and will pass it on. Their fence was heavily vandalized, sections were completely and totally destroyed, and they would be rebuilding huge portions of it, building actual chain link from scratch for some of it. They don’t have the time, as they are understaffed, to actually do this themselves. They might be able to pull that off on a work day if enough people came, rented the needed tools, and if this was a low skill enough repair job. They have several acres that are completely fenced in with a number of small dog runs, of which every single one of them was cut through in multiple places.

@duodec The rings might work for some of it and metal sounds better than nylon or plastic. Based on what I was told, I think replacement is going to be the only choice for some of it though. I will pass this information on to them.

@mehbee I hadn’t thought of Home Depot. I had been calling around construction places for used fencing and figured we’d worry about how to get it installed later.

The guy (one of the 4 companies that have come together to jointly install and pay for a security system) who set up the gofundme for them may have a lead on a fence manufacture who might donate fencing or give them a rock bottom price. I may have located a company that may give them/sell cheap used fencing and possibly install it free/cheap (the owner was out on a job, this is a large, local, family company, the guy who answered the phone was immediately enthusiastic).

Thanks for the suggestion about Amazon as well. I didn’t know that was an option. I will let them know/ see if I can set this up for them tomorrow. I’ll post here when that is done - I need a specific list from them. I know blankets, food, leashes were taken… beyond that I don’t know.

I am also working on getting the PR set up so that all the companies who have participated in helping will get public recognition locally. Right now I am selling it on a follow up and to show case how companies in the community are coming together to help - if anyone works in PR and has suggestions for a more effective hook I’d appreciate the advice.

@Kidsandliz Home Depot may not have the fencing needed but they might help out with labor. In the town where my husband works they have done several projects. They built a ramp and widened some doors for a Vet in a wheelchair, built a custom Batmobile bed and decorated the room in superhero stuff for a kid who was very ill. They fixed an air conditioner and some other things for an old theatre in town and one thing I got to participate in was helping clean up at a church after a tornado went through the area. Lots of the material they use for projects does not necessarily come from their store. They work with vendors and companies that buy from the store to get material, labor, etc. So it won’t hurt to ask them.

@Kidsandliz Here is a sample list of one that ive sent stuff to so you can see how its set up.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/?ie=UTF8&cid=AH2BQAIYCJ4ZU

@Kidsandliz Do they have a paypal account? That’s an easy way to donate, and the charge to either donor or recipient is under 3% (if I guessed at it correctly). I usually do individual donations and just pay the charge myself so the recipient gets all that I wanted them to get.

If they have an email address, I’ll happily send them some funds.

@Kidsandliz The real pisser is that the vandalism gained them nothing except for the adrenaline rush at the moment. I get so angry over this shit that it’s all I can do to refrain from throwing things.

@Kidsandliz I hope it all works out. Boy Scouts also do community projects to earn a new badge & have been helpful.

Ever since we were turned down to own a rescue dog at one of these private shelters, I’ve been dubious about donating. I’m sure they are not all run badly, but they would rather leave the dogs outside chained to a dog house then let us adopt one of their German Shepard mix dogs. They said that even though our dog run is 1 acre of 4 & 5’ chainlink that I also folded & buried fencing & poured concrete under the gates to prevent dig-outs, we should never leave the dogs outside when we’re at work (we also have a doggy-door)… Our couches all have dog hair all over them, we take the dogs to the park and sometimes to McDonalds for a plain beef patty (they LOVE that). Both our dogs even semi-tolerate our cat!
sigh…
So, they chained the dog back to the dog-house & we left.
We’ve never been so depressed & it’s still bugging me.
The good news is that we got a great dog at the Humane Society a few months later!

@magic_cave I called and left a message for Peggy to find out about paypal. Didn’t get an answer back. You can use a credit card here:

https://carams.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=1

I will follow up in the morning with Peggy again to see if they have one and if not get them to set one up.

@mehbee Haven’t set it up yet but do have a list of what they need. Blankets new and used (as long as they can survive a washing machine), dry cat and dog food, canned dog food, canned senior dog food, cat litter (clumping).

@mehbee Forgot to add to that list - puppy food. They had broken into the container that had all the food and litter in it. I’m wondering what will show up on craigslist… Clearly since also leashes were taken one of the thugs must have had dogs or something.

@magic_cave Here is how to get to their paypal account

https://carams.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=7

@mehbee I found out that Home Depot already comes out once a year to do projects for them (labor only) and if they can round up (they have some leads) the fencing they were going to help with the installation.

@Kidsandliz did home depot pull through? Lowe’s does the same thing, but they also provide products.

They did a project semi locally where they fixed up a vet’s trailer. New wheelchair ramps, gutted the bathrooms, brought in some appliances. It was on the news.

@RiotDemon I don’t know. Haven’t talked with Peggy since the beginning of the week. She did tell me they come out once a year and spend the day doing projects.

@narfcake Thank you.

@mick Thanks for helping them out. The police were involved so hopefully that angle is being covered. I will mention it to them.

@Kidsandliz

You probably know already, but yes, there’s a PayPal option.

@PlacidPenguin yes posted it at my long post near the current bottom of this thread. thanks

@lisaviolet Thank you!

@f00l unfortunately half decent security systems cost many thousands of dollars, and that’s before paying someone to monitor them such that having them could prevent something like this mid-crime.

@jbartus If they’re going around slashing 30k worth of fences, all you’d need is something that can detect motion that can send an email- text it to employees.

@f00l @jbartus @PantHeist 4 companies came together (on their own they did this as CARA didn’t ask for a security system, just to repair the damage and replace stolen and destroyed stuff) and between them are are installing a good security system sometime this week or next. Not sure what the definition of good is, but anything is better than nothing.