WALTER (Beagle)
LAWRENCEVILLE, GEORGIA......One Man's Trash is another Man's Treasure is something I say regularly. A dog gives his entire Life to a Family only to be discarded when he gets too old to either hunt or produce pups. Life of a Hunting Dog is hard every day when the Owners treat them like property and not part of a Family to be loved and nurtured.
Beagles are the most loving creatures and are also the most neglected. Poor Walter was picked up by Animal Control as a stray in Georgia. He could barely walk and appeared not to be able to see very well. Skin and bones, and no one wanted to Rescue him. How is this possible to have a dog look so desperate with the saddest eyes imaginable and he is unwanted.
We are beyond full right now, and I could not turn my back on this dog. Walter went immediately to CVRC in Charleston and spent three days in ICU before they felt he would make it. Walter had a lot of things wrong with him, but the thing that was going to kill him was he had given up. He did not have the strength to go one step further or fight another day.
Walter's main issue is he has Heart Valve Disease. That, coupled with the fact he was skin and bones and eaten up with parasites, did not make for a happy pup. We estimate he is around ten years old but looks more like fifteen.
His heart is something that can be treated. Dr. Sophy Jesty did a full Cardio Work-Up which entailed every test known to man that relates to his heart. He has horrible skin from fleas and ticks, and his ears are an infected mess. He is anemic from the parasites. The icing on the cake is he has a Mast Cell Tumor on his testicles. The good news is he is Heartworm Negative. Someone did care about him at one point to give him HW preventative.
Everything adds up to a sick pup that was used up and not given proper Medical Care when he became ill. Poor Walter has given up. Life has been too hard for him, and he does not want to be here any longer. There is a medical solution for everything he has. We can fix a lot of things, but the hardest thing to mend is a Broken Heart where a dog gives up HOPE.
I decided there was no reason to remove the Tumor at this time. Walter had gone through enough getting him stable while in ICU. If he were going to die, then it would be with us and not in the hospital. I brought Walter to our Rehab Facility, knowing he would probably not make it. All the medical tests and drugs that would heal his body would not treat what was killing him. Walter needed Hope and Love to turn him around.
I told the Staff to love him as much as possible and give him a reason to want to be here. For three days, they thought he had died; he was so unresponsive to everything. It was like he did not have a clue what it was like to be loved and cared for. After one week, he began to respond to people loving on him and the interaction with other dogs. It was like a lightbulb in his brain came on, and he suddenly remembered a time in his Life when he was Happy.
Walter has now improved enough to where I am going to move forward with his Tumor removal since his cancer had not spread. Walter is a new dog that has finally found a Reason to Live. He looks totally different than he did when he arrived. The Shelter I rescued him from did not think he would survive another day he was so lethargic. This sweet beagle has proven them wrong.
Please, Donate whatever you can for dear Walter. I thought initially I would be posting for a dog we spent a lot of money on that did not survive. I am over-joyed to be posting for a dog that has survived and is thriving with unconditional Love and Care. Now, let's get his well.
