The pup, nicknamed Swan, was found with a littermate on the city's east side Sunday night.
She was covered with bite wounds and two types of mange. Volunteers from Waldo's Muttley Crew took her to Indy Vet hoping she could be saved.
Fast forward three days and what a comeback.
The Muttley Crew's Kathy Gilbert was near tears as veterinarian Tracey Gillepsie carried the pup into an exam room Wednesday afternoon.
"Oh, look! She's wagging her tail," Gilbert said, carefully cradling the dog. "It's like holding your first baby. She's all I've been thinking about."
Swan is still bone-thin and on IV antibiotics, but a far cry from just two days ago.
Gillespie said Swan clearly "had the will to fight...in 48 hours this dog has gone from a dog we thought we'd lose at any moment to a dog eating on her own now. She got her first bath today. She knows how poop outside cage...she's making amazing progress."
No one knows what happened to Swan, just that her and her brother, nicknamed Lake, were malnourished and suffering from extreme neglect. Unlike Swan, who was fighting several infections, Lake had not been attacked by another dog. He's currently in a foster home.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Swan could barely open her eyes. That's when Gillespie decided to try a blood transfusion. While that "gave her some of the fight back," Gillespie said it's still "going to be a long haul with nutrition the biggest part."
Swan, thought to be a Pit bull / Vizsla mix about five months old, is just 12 pounds and should weigh twice that. But watching her eat and wander around the room, Gilbert couldn't be happier.
"I am immensely grateful," she said. "She is definitely a miracle, this is our miracle baby. I wanted so badly to give her the chance to know what love and kindness was, because she didn't have it."
Donations can be made online here or sent by mail to Waldo's Muttley Crew Animal Rescue, PO Box 421798, Indianapolis, IN 46242.
(WTHR - Sept 14, 2016)
No comments:
Post a Comment