Sunday, January 27, 2013

Update on How to Donate for Sharla's Medical Care!

Okay, some confusion seems to have developed over who is going to provide the medical care for Sharla, how the bills will be paid, how donations are going to be collected, etc.

This is nobody's fault . . . when several parties are involved in rescuing a dog and there is an urgent need to raise awareness and funds communication breakdowns sometimes happen! 

So from this point forward the information below should be regarded as the definitive information regarding donations, etc.

Pet Rescue North will continue to provide updates, and will support efforts to bring this beautiful dog back to full health, but in the interests of simplicity and avoiding further confusion they will take a step back and allow Sharla's new foster family to take the lead in this case. This will avoid the counter-productivity of competing fund-raising efforts and, now that Sharla is in foster care, allow those who are dealing directly with Sharla on a daily basis, i.e. the foster family, to base the care decisions on what they are seeing first-hand. 
 
 
News regarding Sharla's progress can be found at www.facebook.com/sharlasnewstart
 
Once again, thank you to everyone for caring. It must say something abut how special Sharla is that so many people were trying to help right from the word go!
 
 
 
 

How to Donate to Sharla's Care

For those of you who read yesterday's post about Sharla and her need for intensive and expensive medical care I have a couple of updates:

Donations can be made via PAYPAL by visiting Pet Rescue North's Website and clicking on the PAYPAL button.

Alternatively, checks and money orders made out to Pet Rescue North, Inc. can be mailed to Pet Rescue North, Inc. P.O. Box 28574, Jacksonville, FL 32226-8574

Please indicate in some way if the donation is to be used specifically for Sharla’s care. If PAYPAL does not offer this opportunity, simply drop an email to PRNorth@Yahoo.com informing them that you have made a donation and this is the purpose it is to be used for!


Also, as I entered in a comment yesterday, Sharla has a FB page now and you can follow her progress in her new foster home. Alternative methods of donating to her care can also be found there.


Sharla's First Meal in her New Foster Home!
Sharla desperately needs your help!  Thank You for caring!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Please Help Sharla!

I’d thought of various ideas for this week’s post, some amusing and light-hearted, some less so, but then, through my volunteering with Pet Rescue North, I learned of the plight of Sharla . . . and this is so important it must take precedence over all my other thoughts!

Warning: Some of the photos are graphic and disturbing and were taken during various veterinary assessments.

 
Sharla was essentially left outside in the dirt for years with minimal, if any, care at all.  She shows all the signs of neglect: fleas, malnourishment, loss of energy etc., but, worst of all, she has a massive tumor on her left hip.  Whether this tumor is malignant or not still has to be determined but Sharla is in such poor shape that surgery cannot even be attempted until her general health improves dramatically.

 
 
Now the tumor is growing rapidly and is affecting her ability to stand and walk properly.

And still, Sharla shows her trust in humans . . . part of the vet assessment describes her this way: “Patient is very gentle, friendly, BAR, and mentally appropriate, soliciting human interaction. Wags tail with attention or when spoken to, approaches when called. Somewhat unsteady on feet, but significant emaciation and poor body score (2/6,) and weight shift heavier on left hip due to large heavy mass pulling to left side. Obvious weight loss and somewhat sagging skin as secondary effect. General appearance suggestive of dog >12 years, generally debilitated, negative energy balance.”

Now is not the time to go on a rant about the kind of “people” who can allow this to happen to an animal in their care (and I have lots of thoughts regarding that); Now is the time to think of Sharla and what can be done to save her!



 
Sharla has been rescued and is in a safe and caring environment at the moment.  However, the cost of the medical care necessary to get her into shape for treatment of the tumor, let alone the costs of that treatment when it occurs, will be enormous. Pet Rescue North is sponsoring Sharla’s care, but as a small organization they do not have the funds available to go it alone.  So they are asking for help from the animal-loving public! 

In the several years that I have been helping Pet Rescue North in what little way I can, I have never known them to directly ask for donations from the public for the care of a specific animal . . . to me this is an indication of how serious Sharla’s condition is.

If you would like to help in some way, you can contact Pet Rescue North by emailing PRNorth@Yahoo.com.
 
Hopefully, there will be more specific details on how to donate forthcoming in the very near future and I will keep you updated. Until then, you can follow what information there is on Sharla’s progress by visiting and “liking” PRN’s Facebook page!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

JUST WHAT HAPPENED TO THE AFLAC DUCK?

For my first post since the winter hiatus I am going slightly off topic in that I am not directly mentioning companion animals.  Instead, I want to know . . . just what happened to the AFLAC Duck?


Were these injuries the result of some over-zealous, but incompetent PETA representative attempting to enforce a belief that death is preferable to exploitation? And, if so, did they ask the duck if it chose to represent this company or was it forced?

Was the duck a victim of someone, say a farmer, who believes that animals should know their place, and television stardom is not their place?
 
Perhaps the injuries are the result of an escape from a care and protective services “shelter” that had deemed the duck unadoptable?  After all the duck has in previous appearances shown itself to be rather strong-headed, independent, and even aggressive in getting its point across!

Could the injuries be self-inflicted; a result of the stress inflicted by being a public personality?  After all, everyone has read of stardom leading to what seem to be psychotic breaks or self-destructive behavior! Was the constant pressure to perform the breaking point or, possibly, did the realization that he was a phenomenon, a special individual, living a life of luxury while his fellow non-humans were being slaughtered for the crime of being homeless just too much to stand!

Undoubtedly, we will learn the truth in the near future.  But will this revelation be just another stunt by an enthusiastic but uncaring PR advisor? Let’s hope we get to hear the real story from the true victim . . . the duck!