I’m too busy to remember that I have a fundraiser going on, and so far, I’m the only person who’s contributed to it because I’m a terrible networker. I also know it’s a tough time of year when most people’s budgets are already strained, so I’m not surprised or even disappointed. This is just reality. If you’re able to help, please click [link redacted because fundraiser has ended].
Sunday we pulled a tiny puppy from BARC–he and his brother, actually–only to hear from his foster that he wasn’t doing well. She was so worried that she took him to one of Houston’s best ER vets, and Tim went by to visit him later. He has parvo. Today he’ll be transported from the ER vet to one of our veterinary partners who has pulled many parvo puppies through for us. Tim sent this photo of him.
Parvo always hits me hard because I’ll never forget Pollock and his sister Ruby’s littermates. They were the first litter of puppies pulled by our rescue from BARC, and they were to be fostered by Hanley’s mom Laura. Since she had to be out of town for a few days, Tim took them (and I shared photos of all of them in several blog posts in September 2013), then they went to Laura’s after she returned. Big Guy became sick and was held back the day the rest of the litter including Pollock (he was Little Guy then) and Ruby were loaded on the van and were on their way out of town. Laura got a call from the vet with bad news: Big Guy had parvo. So the rest of the litter were pulled off the van and came back to The Compound. The deal was that all the puppies would stay with Tim. If they got sick, they’d go to the vet, where two vet techs were fiercely committed to caring for them. Then if they made it, they’d go to Laura’s until they were well enough to travel.
One by one, each of those puppies got sick and died because of parvo despite everyone’s best efforts to save them. Ruby was the only one who got parvo and pulled through, and Laura adopted her so she could get her strong and well. Little Guy never left Tim’s and never got parvo but did get his new name, Pollock. There was no way after all that loss Tim could let Pollock travel to Colorado. They were meant to be together.
Neither Tim nor I put that story on our blogs back then because it was too painful. The rescue org was new and that was a tough part of the beginning. Now more than 25,000 transported dogs, cats, and pigs later, no one connected to our rescue ever forgets the ones we lose. So many of them come off the streets and out of the shelter sick and broken, and that’s why we say we rescue, rehabilitate, and transport. The financial impact is huge, but that’s part of the group’s commitment. We don’t pull only healthy animals. We pull animals in need. Thanks to our rescue partners and their compassion and commitment, we’re able to do our best to get them healthy before they travel. Thanks to our donors and grantors, we’re able to pay for it.
All that is to say that I was already emotionally invested in today’s little puppy even before I realized his name (given to him by my records partner at work, Lynn), which is Frisbee. That reminded me of the late Rob Edler (person belonging to Mlle. Renee, another amazing rescue dog). His LJ user name was Cody Frizbee Jr. I felt moved to contribute to little Frisbee’s medical bills because of Rob and Renee, Ruby and Pollock.
I hope he makes it.