Sandy - The Dog Saved from Death on a Beach in Puerto Vallarta Team Angels/Kathryn and Doug - SPCA-PV | |
October 15, 2014 |
Last week my husband Doug and I were vacationing in Puerto Vallarta. Friday morning Doug comes into the hotel room after his morning run and told me there was a dog on the beach not looking so good…let's go have a look I said.
When we walked up to her I was speechless. She was the worst case of starvation I had ever seen. I bawled all the way back to the hotel in Dougs arms…I felt defeated. He said if there is anyone that can turn this around you can…I didn't believe him. He told me to not give up! I did EVERYTHING I could down there to no avail…enter then the crazy networking/begging/persistence of Holly.
All I could think about that day was how I just wanted her to be alive for one more day…we fed her that night pizza and sausage buffet food. Carbs to give her energy, salt to get her drinking more and meat to help her feel stronger. She couldn't lift her head off the sand as she was eating so we had to lift it. There was fresh water about 20 feet away from her where the ocean and the river met. After that first meal we said goodnight and were happy to see her back Saturday morning with her head raised, we felt she was looking for us.
Off to the Buffet that morning to shove more food in the beach bag…her second meal…sausages were inhaled with her head deep in the bag!! She got stronger over the previous night…we felt hope. I spent much of my day trying to connect in PV to no avail and Holly was working her end ferociously. We could not find her that night. We talked about how we were going to end her life humanely …a peaceful medication overdose or bring her to the vets Sunday morning…we were still not sure if anyone was going to pick her up and we were not leaving PV without knowing…even changing our flights. That night that our plea was heard by the SPCA-PV...tears of relief and joy overflowed.
Sunday morning was a good day after we could not find her. Shortly after breakfast we discovered that she was picked up…at least we knew she would die in the loving arms of a caring person. More tears of joy when we learned she was not totally terminal and not going to be euthanized because of infectious disease. We boarded our plane with both of us reminding each other every 15 minutes 'we saved a dog today'…sheepish little grins…and tears.
This experience has changed us…and many in our lives. We won't stop here…how can we?
Yes we understand that there are dogs here to be adopted, and yes I have adopted 3 locally. But I DARE any caring dog owner to walk by Sandy and not do anything because of 'Borders'…see her pain, touch her, count her bones. I will bet your 'borders' would come down in a heartbeat.
From SPCA-PV: We received an email from Holly of Best Friends for Life in Vancouver, telling us that her friend is staying at a hotel in Mismaloya and told her about a dog in very bad shape on the beach right in front of the hotel.
We also received facebook messages from her and when we asked her to send us a photo of the dog and saw the poor pup, we knew we had to go and help.
When our helper got to the beach, the image would have turned every animal lovers stomach: A beach full of people, locals, vendors, a few restaurants right there, tons of tourists and in the middle this poor dog, in the burning sun, no shade, too weak to move and nobody cared and nobody had even given her a bit water.
Seeing this makes one really doubt the general goodness of mankind.
Sandy was picked up and brought off the beach to the parking lot where we first of all gave her some water, and boy was she thirsty!
The poor girl was far too weak to get up, she must have been starving for quite a while, but she still had spirit in her and clearly wanted to survive!
Her swollen nipples indicated that she must have had puppies recently, and to top it all off, someone must have cut off her tail not long ago. She has an infected open wound on the stump where her tail used to be.
She was very grateful for the water and kept drinking the entire way back to our sanctuary.
First thing arriving there, we tested her outside in safe distance to the other dogs for distemper, luckily that came out negative which meant that we could take her into the shelter in our quarantine area. She did test positive for Ehrlichia and anaplasma and that is one of the reasons why she is so skinny.
Right now she is getting an IV since she is also severely dehydrated. Hopefully with treatment and lots of love she´ll be on the way to recovery. Welcome to the sanctuary Sandy! You are safe now and you are loved!
Please consider donating something so that we can keep helping Sandy and other mistreated dogs.
Read all about Sandy on Facebook and SPCA-PV.
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From activities like hiking, swimming, bike riding and yoga, to restaurants offering healthy menus, Vallarta-Nayarit is the ideal place to continue - or start - your healthy lifestyle routine.