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Friday, July 13, 2012

Giles Express, Part 2

Part 2...

Giles made it through the night. The next hematocrit taken was 22. His red blood cells doubled over night!  One could see dramatic improvement over night as he lifted his head when called and his eyes were brighter.  He could also stand!  Giles held his own through the night.

Potty Break on Tuesday, 7/3
Since he had been on oxygen all night, At Risk Intervention (ARI) elected to transfer him to University of Tennessee Vet Hospital (UT) for at least the day. He walked to the transport van on his own, but his gums were far too pale and his breathing too rough and upon arrival and UT, a gurney was requested for the trip into the hospital. He spent another two nights in the ICU at UT.

He improved so much over the 4th of July weekend, that he was again transferred on the 6th of July to a local vet office. He was stable and doing well on room air. Even so, he spent another two days in the care unit at the local vet office before being transferred to an experienced foster home, where the woman of the house was an experienced vet tech.

How much had he improved?

Giles hematocrit had risen to 28, up 17 points (more than 50%) since the day he was dumped. Bloodwork showed that his malnourished body was producing red blood cells. He had also been eating like crazy and gained 10 pounds!

Cyn's efforts also found out that the same people were involved in another abuse case involving a second greyhound, which almost died the previous year. She is making it her job to follow the progress of the abuse case. She stated,
"If no action is taken, I will file a writ of mandamus to ask the court to order the DA to do his job. I really doubt that will be necessary given the conditions and documentation of these dogs. Don't mess with Greyhounds around a Greyhound-loving Lawyer."
One woman, Carla, put this story into perspective,
"He is who I think of when I tell people that the only greyhounds I have "rescued" come from prior adopters...  that my straight from the racing kennel or straight from the track or group adoptions are just that-- adoptions."
Cyn posted at update on the boy, letting everyone know that
"he has a permanent home with Nancy Hanrahan in NJ, when he's well enough to travel -- no more changes for a little while! I've known Nancy for a couple of decades and she specializes in old man fossil dogs, so I know he'll get the best of care. His vet bills are covered with donations. Hemocrit was originally 11 when he came in to the animal shelter and was 28 on Friday. He is making red blood cells just fine per his retic rate. A happy ending when we were about four hours from a tragedy. He probably would not have made it through the night, the vet says. Animal Control is pursuing an investigation, they say, and I have the couple's home address."
To get the boy to this point, ARI used every dime they had. Now was the time for the greyhound community to help ARI and the way to do it was with an "Emergency Auction".

12 comments:

  1. Sooooooo, did Grey2K offer any financial aid or moral supprt?

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    Replies
    1. I've not heard of any support forthcoming from that direction.

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    2. And I am about sure you won't either. What do they support? Themselves.

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    3. Thank you for your comments. However, please let that be the last one on Grey2K... at least where it concerns Giles Express.

      Delete
  2. What does Grey2K have to do with this

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  3. Giles' RBC is now 34, which would be about normal if he were a dog instead of a Greyhound! He goes on 3/4 mile walks with his foster mom and his gait shows marked improvement with no knuckling under or toe dragging. His righting impulse in his hind legs has improved from nonexistent to sluggish. He has gained ANOTHER 5 pounds and is now at his racing weight of 73 pounds! All in all, his progress has been better than anyone could have possibly hoped a mere 12 days ago. Cyn at ARI.

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    Replies
    1. Outstanding! Thank you for all you have done for Giles and others.

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  4. Amazing!!!! I'm so glad he was able to get help!

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  5. If anyone is still following this, do you know whatever happened to the people that did this to Giles? Were they prosecuted?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, someone is following this and this was just sent to me.

      "Got updated on his neglect case.

      A lot of the problem is the laws here. Giles' neglectful owners were cited on a county charge, appeared in court, and were fined. They are on Animal Control's radar again now, and they will be stopping by to do a wellness check on the remaining animals today or tomorrow.

      Animal Control is as proactive as the laws will allow them to be. To get them barred from owning animals or require them to surrender the remaining animals, they would have to be brought up on "state" charges, e.g. misdemeanor or felony under state codes rather than infractions under county code, and getting that through the state court system is a fairly high burden of proof, must prove willful and intentional rather than just straight negligence."

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  6. Whatever happened to the people that did this to him? Were they prosecuted?

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    Replies
    1. There was talk of the abuser being prosecuted. I've not followed up. Thank you for the reminder!

      Delete

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