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Please help Home At Last Rescue to save Snowball!
June 24, 2009, 10:1AM MT
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A special dog that touched the hearts of many needs your help
A special dog that touched the hearts of many needs your help
Written by Rosanna Krenn, Rescue Transport Volunteer
Snowball came to Pennsylvania from a shelter in Kentucky on June 13th. Home At Last Dog Rescue wanted to save him from euthanasia so he could be adopted into a new loving family. He was transported, along with several other dogs, by many volunteers, each group covering a leg of the long trip. I was one of those volunteers and it's a great feeling holding a fluffy white puppy in your arms, knowing you have helped save his life. Snowball was only 11 weeks old at the time of the transport and he is a white Lab.
Shortly after arriving in PA, however, Snowball began to show symptoms of canine parvovirus (commonly known as parvo), a contagious disease which can be deadly if contracted by dogs, especially puppies. Its symptoms (vomiting and bloody diarrhea) were recognized, and he was immediately taken to an emergency veterinarian for medical treatment.
As the week went on, we all received updates via heartbreaking e-mails from Lynn Smith and Connie Hammond, who took primary responsibility for Snowball's vet visits. They kept us informed as Snowball "hit bottom" and the vet told them there was a chance he might not make it. We began to fear the worst, but tried to remain hopeful. You can believe there were a lot of folks praying for Snowball.
We all breathed a great sigh of relief upon hearing that Snowball's condition had improved, and rejoiced when we learned that he had been released from the vet. He is currently being fostered by Connie Hammond and her family, and is making a tremendous recovery. She had this to say about Snowball:
"He is great with kids, cats, dogs everything! He, however, does not like the crate at all and does a lot of barking/whimpering when he is in it. So we have been keeping him out of the crate since he behaves so well outside the crate that it is not an issue for us. Tonight is the first night and we plan on letting him sleep at the foot of our bed as he loves to be near someone all the time.He LOVES any dog toy and has just taken my other dogs' stuffed animal out of his cage as I write this - he is a sneak - but a cute sneak!"
He looks pretty good in his picture, but I can tell you he is so much thinner than he was when I saw him. That's what a close brush with death will do to a puppy. Home At Last has already paid the vet & emergency hospital bills that were incurred during Snowball's visits, but as a result they have depleted their funds. They are a small rescue made up completely of volunteers. Some of the drivers who helped transport Snowball from Kentucky made generous donations that helped them cover some of the costs. But he is still fighting a secondary infection from the parvo and will require vet visits for awhile. So they are asking if you can help them further. They have set an initial goal of $500.00 on Fundable to help them cover the rest of the vet bills, and they would greatly appreciate any amount you can donate to help them reach that goal!
Home At Last Dog Rescue is non-profit, and is composed of a small group of volunteers whose goal is to save the lives of homeless dogs suffering in high-kill shelters, This is their only goal and all proceeds from this collection will be used solely for that purpose.
You might wonder why all these people give so freely of their time and money. Well, when you see a beautiful animal like Snowball and know you helped him have a real chance at a good life, the reason why becomes very clear!
Can you help them to save Snowball and other animals like him? It's such a good feeling when you do! Let's try to put them over the top on their goal! Please go to Fundable and give whatever you can afford. No amount is too small and all donations will be appreciated more than you can know! Together we can help save more sweet animals like Snowball!
Click here to help with Snowball's recovery fund.
Pictured above: Snowball
Reprinted with Permission
Photo Courtesey of Home At Last Rescue
Posted by Sherry, PA Forums Moderator