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Simon -
AZBHR’s 1400th Rescue
At The Bridge
Simon, the sweet beautiful red and white Basset
Hound came to AZBHR from the AZ Humane Society a short time ago.
Simon was the 1400th rescue for AZBHR. From what we can tell
looks like the owners dropped him off at the humane society as
he still had his tags with their phone numbers on it and his
name. Seems Simon had a few lumps and they couldn’t adopt him
out because of this. So the Webster family went to the AZ Humane
Society and picked him up. Simon it turned out was very sick boy
and the Webster’s took him to the vet for medical care, then
home to give him lots of TLC. Simon continued to get worse so
AZBHR set him up to stay with one of our vets, Sundance Animal
Hospital where they continued to treat him and test him to see
what was wrong with him. Simon had lots of discharge from the
eyes, nose and was coughing heavily. It turned out he had staph
infection and after taking antibiotics most symptoms cleared up
but coughing persisted and his heart seemed to be working
overtime so I set up an appointment with cardiologist vet
specialist. So on Tuesday night I sprung Simon from the vet’s
office and he enjoyed some relaxing in the sun outside by the
pool then came inside. I snuggled with Simon in bed last night
and his breathing was very heavy and knew that there was
definitely something terribly wrong with him….sometimes you can
just sense this. This morning Simon was doing OK but not wagging
his tail like he was yesterday and he started peeing all over
the house. So I picked up Simon and put him in the back of my
SUV and off to the cardiology vet we went. Once he was in the
car we headed down the road but something very strong hit me and
I just started crying and then praying to God that if it was
time for Simon please don’t let him live in any pain and take
him peacefully. I cried and prayed all the way for about 25
minutes until we arrived at the vet’s office. When I opened the
back of the SUV and saw Simon with his breathing even more
irregular, white gums and no movement I knew the end was near
for this sweet boy. So I picked him up in the blanket I wrapped
him in and ran crying and yelling into the vet’s office saying I
think he is dying…the staff was so awesome but it was too late
within minutes of arriving his big enlarged heart gave out. You
see they think looking his heart was enlarged and had congestive
heart failure. They let me say good-bye and I told him to fly
free…my Beatrice, my foster Naomi and so many other hounds would
be there to greet him and someday we would meet again. I want to
personally thank the Webster’s who took him in when the call
went out from Robin Martin, intake coordinator and they took him
into their home. I know they are hurting too. I meet Simon at
the vet’s office last week and brought him to my house yesterday
but I got to tell you he got to me big time…my heart is breaking
and the tears still flowing but I know Simon is free of pain and
probably enjoying a steak dinner and dancing at the Rainbow
Bridge.
Some may ask how you can do what you do in the rescue. I
honestly have to say some days I don’t know how any of us do it.
It can be very frustrating and yet very rewarding. Times like
this are few but nevertheless it’s very hard. I just know that
making a difference in the dog’s lives is the reason I have the
passion I have to help the hounds even when I don’t know where
the energy or strength comes from. Whether you foster,
volunteer, adopt, and donate…YOU make a difference!
Hug your furry friends and thank you for all you do for the
hounds of AZBHR!
AZBHR Saves
Over 60 Bassets from Life in Puppy Mills
As you may already know Puppy Mills are a
problem in our nation and now it’s even closer to home than you
think. Over the past six months Arizona Basset Hound Rescue, an
expert in dog welfare and puppy mills, has taken in 52 Basset
Hounds from a puppy mill in Pinal County.
 AZBHR
has worked with Pinal County for over two years trying to close
down this breeder and is very thankful to Pinal County and all
their staff for the efforts in getting the owner to surrender
the final group of Bassets as of Monday, August 3rd.
Pinal County was able to get the owner to
surrender 29 Bassets back in February and 22 of those dogs were
turned over to AZBHR the balance were adopted out by Pinal
County. The breeder recently was evicted and lost her home and
moved down the road leaving 13 dogs at the property outside.
When the Realtor showed up to survey the property, she found
them and called animal control in Pinal County. According to
animal control the dogs had NO food and NO water - this was last
week, when the temps were in 110's plus.
 Once
they tracked the breeder down, she claimed that she was feeding
and watering them when she could, but hadn't had a ride in 3
days, so she hadn't been there. This week we received the call
from Pinal County that they were able to get her to surrender
all remaining Bassets to animal control. AZBHR will be taking in
16 of those 21 Bassets. Some of the remaining Bassets have parvo
and are very sick, in fact a couple have not made it due to any
vet care which is common with these puppy mills. “It breaks my
heart to know that these dogs that have died from neglect could
have been saved if they would have been taken to a vet for care
at the early stages. The dogs depend on us humans to be there
for them and care for them. No one should have an animal if they
can’t care for them properly.” Kim Bruck, President, AZBHR.
When a dog is in a puppy mill they are often
kept outdoors with little or no shade, kept in kennels or very
small crates, giving the minimum of
 food
and sometimes it’s not even dog food, when the dogs are no
longer producing pups many times they are shot or drowned as
were a few Bassets that AZBHR was to take from a puppy mill in
another state.
Why buy from a puppy mill when there are so many
dogs and cats that are euthanized each year? Check out the stats
but Maricopa County is around 30,000 plus. Spay and neutering
your pets is the responsible thing to do.
AZBHR is very active in saving dogs from the
life of a puppy mill and have saved many from other states and
in the past year alone over 60 Bassets. AZBHR requires all our
foster homes other pets are spayed and neutered to promote spay
and neuter.
 Many
of the Bassets have health issues such as valley fever, worms,
and ticks and have never had any medical care so the medical
expenses are high. All the Bassets are receiving medical care,
shots and given love by the volunteer foster homes! 21 of the 22
Bassets taken in back in February are already adopted and in
loving homes. One that is remaining is Fitzgerald and he was
probably the most traumatized and was deathly scared of humans.
Another major side affect of puppy mill dogs is that they have
not been socialized with humans and are many times abused. AZBHR
has two females, Natalie and Emily that have been in their
foster home in Tucson for 1.5 years and still hide when company
comes over. It takes lots of patience and love from their foster
homes and adopters when severe cases like this occur. I’ve
personally fostered 2 back in February and have one from recent
group and they are hesitant at first but have come around and
then cling to you by following you around and wanting to be with
you all the time.
Puppy
mills are not our only priority AZBHR works with all the dog
welfare agencies in Arizona including the Arizona Humane Society
and has taken in dogs about to be euthanized for the past 10
years. AZBHR prides itself on the volunteers who give countless
hours to help save these animals and seeing them find a forever
home to live out their life! See how many are enjoying their new
lives.
More videos and new stories about the dogs: |
