"Meet me at the ER with all the cash." That was the message relayed to Rebecca Braker during a phone call. Rebecca was not thrilled. She was in the middle of cooking dinner, hot and sunburnt, and worn out after coordinating an event the weekend before. However, as much as she did NOT want to meet up at the ER, she loves dogs and will do anything for them!
Word was just received by Cyn Mobley, President of At Risk Intervention (ARI). She'd been told of an elderly greyhound, dumped by its adoptive owner and suffering greatly from neglect, which was on the verge of dying. Little did Cyn know that she would quickly be overwhelmed at the response that that one badly neglected, black greyhound would elicit.
Giles Express On Intake |
Fleas on the rear of Giles Express on Intake |
ARI took immediate ownership of the greyhound and had him transported to the Knoxville Pet Emergency Center. On intake at the ER, he weighed 56 lbs, down from his racing weight of 73 lbs, and his hematocrit (1) was 11. A hematocrit that low is NOT conducive to living. His gums were not just pale... they were white. Giles received a blood transfusion and, post transfusion, his hemocrit went up to 17. The Vet said that's about as good as he could have hoped for but it was still a long, long way from the normal greyhound values of 45-65%. (2)
Giles Express on Intake, Note the White Gums |
Dying fleas on the blanket and on the dog's face & legs |
Dying fleas on the blanket around Giles Express |
Giles Express - Bath to Remove Dried Blood & Fleas |
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1) Hematocrit or Packed Cell Volume (PCV) - Provides information on the amount of red blood cells (RBC) present in the blood. Decreased levels means anemia from hemorrhage, parasites, nutritional deficiencies or chronic disease process, such as liver disease, cancer, etc. Increased levels are often seen in dehydration.
2) "Making Sense of Bloodwork in Greyhounds" by William E Freeman III, DVM; C. Guillermo Couto DVM, M. Cristina Lazbik DVM, and Liliana Marin DVM; Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University.
I want to thank the Greyhound community for all they have done for this poor boy. Being involved with greyhound adoption, I have seen some of the suffering irresponsible adopters have inflected on former racing greyhounds. Hopefully, the abusive adopter that did this will never, ever get another greyhound, or any animal.
ReplyDeleteOn the behalf of all dog lovers I want to thanks you for posting this. I am in tears. I will be tweeting this on my son't service dog Twitter acct @AttacksWithLove
ReplyDeleteGod bless you.
ReplyDeleteI apologize if my last comment is taken as a criticism. I am very invested in Giles' situation (including being friends with both Cyn Mobley and Giles' soon to be Mom) and was concerned about whether his story was being used for "politics". It is now clear to me that it is not.
ReplyDeleteI am thrilled to see so many people step up for Giles, for ARI, and for animal welfare in general.
Giles is INTACT (note manly bits in second photo.) I am not aware of any reputable GH adoption organization that releases intact hounds. Also, he is still listed under his original owner on GH Data. I know that site isn't perfectly UTD, but I wonder when/how he left his stud duties (he has 11 offspring.)
ReplyDeleteAnd your point is???
ReplyDeleteAll dogs on Greyhound-Data are supposed to show their owner of record at the time they were actively racing. Adoptive owners are to be listed as a footnote in the comments section. However, that doesn't always happen, especially when dogs go into other ownership through anti-racing groups, many of which discourage any communication between the pet owner and the racing owners.
Racing owners have been doing direct placements into retirement homes to people since the 1970's, contrary to what you may have heard. Many times those dogs are transferred intact.
Giles was indeed placed directly by his kennel or owner, unneutered. Getting him clipped was not a priority with us, either, given his overall condition.
ReplyDelete