Hope

Hope is a female German Shepherd that was given up to CASPCA by her owner, apparently because she was chasing livestock. That can be a problem in rural areas, but she's a shepherd after all, so it is hardly surprising. I brought her home and soon discovered that Hope was quite agile and could scale even a 6' fence without difficulty. She didn't want to run away, however, she just wanted to be with me. She loved being upstairs in my office on a comfortable bed in a crate.

Actually, being given up was probably the best thing that could have happened for Hope. She had a condition known as Pannus that had never been diagnosed or treated. If she had continued untreated, it would have resulted in blindness. One of my own dogs has Pannus and I've had a couple foster shepherds with it in the past. Hope responded well to the treatment (eyedrops), and her eyes were substantially cleared up in a couple weeks.

Hope was adopted last weekend and is doing well in her new home. Her new owners understand that she will need continuing care, but we were lucky that she got treated soon enough to avoid any permanent loss of vision. Hope is a very sweet girl, and a very lucky one.

Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner, With a Stick That Is.

Baby was a stray puppy brought to the SPCA. As you can see she was skin and bones, but that was not half the story.  When Baby was brought in she could not really eat, she would foam from the mouth, basically something was wrong. But what????

Our clinic staff began looking over Baby, did some tests, took some x-rays and nothing showed up. Then enter Dr. Graybush. When Dr. G. examined her she felt something in her throat. She decided that exploratory surgery was necessary to figure out what was inside Baby. And Dr. Graybush was right.

There certainly was something inside baby, an 8 inch stick from her esophagus into her stomach. No wonder this little girl was not right. Dr. Graybush, along with one of our vet extern students and a clinic assistant, instantly went to work to save Baby's life. They removed the stick, cleaned the area, and closed her up. After a quiet night resting, this little Baby was just about good as new (well other than the stitches down her entire belly area). For the next few days, Baby was taken care of under the watchful eyes of all of our clinic staff. She was their little Baby. And once she got better...


Well Baby, became my Baby, that is my new foster pup. This little one does not remember anything bad. Instead she rolls around constantly with my other five dogs, playing every moment she can get with them. With the weather getting better, she runs out in the yard, having the time of her life. Although Baby does not remember what happened, some of us still do. So when I saw her with a stick in her mouth, I immediately removed that temptation from her, and then back to playing chase with the other dogs she went. At the end of a hard day of play, Baby found a spot next to my Mason, to curl up and go to sleep. As of April 30, Baby is still looking for her new owners and a new playmate!!

Sammy

by Susanne Kogut, Executive Director, Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA

Sammy, the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA shelter cat, died Tuesday, April 14, 2009.

In 2000, Sammy became part of the SPCA family, when it was decided that Sammy would live his life at the SPCA. Since that time, everyone and anyone that has visited the SPCA knows just how much Sammy has meant to our organization and our mission. Sammy has performed many jobs over the years, from Staff greeter, volunteer orientation guide, and Board meeting moderator and comforter. He authored the “Sammy Says” column in our Whiskers and Tales newsletter. Most importantly, Sammy worked tirelessly at the SPCA to improve the relationship of dogs and cats in the community, often spending countless hours trying to educate the dogs of the SPCA about the proper way to introduce and acclimate themselves to the family cats.

Sammy has brightened the days of everyone at the SPCA, and has had a wonderful life living upstairs in the new SPCA facility. Unfortunately, over the past few weeks, Sammy's health has continually declined, and it became clear that his quality of life had deteriorated. The decision was made was to humanely euthanize Sammy. We thank Dr. Graybush, Dr. Beichel, Dr. Betts, all the SPCA clinic staff, and the staff of Charlottesville Animal Hospital for caring for Sammy through out the years.

A small memorial ceremony for Sammy will be held in the courtyard of the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA at 2:00 pm on Sunday, April 26th. Friends may send condolences by leaving a comment (link below).

We will all miss Sammy dearly. He has been and will forever be a huge part of who we are at the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA.