We joke that "Urgent is our middle name!" and it's not uncommon that we get emergencies on top of emergencies.
When a rural shelter contacted us about a man who wanted to surrender 11 puppies, we were out of options. We didn't have a place for them, and we struck out again and again, before asking Kelly McComas at Greenville Humane Society. They took 9 puppies from the same shelter in advance of Hurricane Idalia. Kelly graciously offered to take in the puppies, and we set up a transport for Friday.
The local shelter took in the puppies Wednesday and started deworming them, but when they came in Thursday morning, they found one of the puppies dead. When Susan and Nancye were at the shelter to meet and network dogs, two of the other puppies seemed lethargic and had very pale gums.
We knew they needed immediate medical attention, so we changed our plan on the fly once again. Logistically it's a challenge because this shelter is an hour and a half away. Brandy Cline had already left the shelter with Zeus, taking the injured pup with open wounds to the vet, and we asked her to turn around and go back to get the two sick puppies and bring them, too. We called Palm Valley Veterinary Center to ask if we could bring a couple more urgent pups, and Allison said "Of course!"
We brought the two sick to Dr Mack along with Zeus, arriving just before closing time. As always, Dr. Mack and the staff at Palm Valley were amazing. He immediately examined them and ran bloodwork and parvo tests. The parvo tests were negative, but both puppies had a heavy load of hookworms, despite the deworming. Both also had fleas and Giardia. Thankfully, with proper care they'll make a full recovery.
The sad, heartbreaking and infuriating part of this is that all this could have been easily prevented. Simply deworming the puppies earlier could have prevented one puppy from dying, and prevented problems with the rest of the litter.
Kevin Dykes was returning from a cat transport for Collier County Animal Services in Naples, and he went to Lake Butler to pick up the other 8 puppies, and he drove them to Greenville Humane Society. The rest of the little got a third day of deworming, along with extra stops for food and water along the way. That makes messier crates and more cleanup, but we wanted to make sure the others got there safely.
The two sick puppies were safe to leave the vet today, so Valerie and Brad Losego took them home and temp foster until we can figure out another ride for them to South Carolina next week.
A huge Thank You to Dr. Mack, Allison, Alexis, Alyssa, and the staff at Palm Valley Veterinary Center for coming through in a crisis once again, and for not batting an eyelash when we showed up at closing time with 3 urgent dogs (2 puppies and Zeus). Thank you Brandy Cline and Kevin Dykes for transporting these pups, and thank you Nancye Frank and Susan Merrill for networking these rural shelter pups 365 days a year. 𝗙𝗨𝗥 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗛𝗟𝗬 𝗚𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠 Sick and injured animals need help fast. Every donation helps, but Monthly donors give us flexibility to respond immediately when there is an emergency. When there is a hoarding case or a hurricane, a dog with a gunshot wound or a cruelty case, we have to act quickly. We don't have time to do a fundraiser, and wait for those funds to get to us. Your monthly donation can help us save lives again and again. To learn more, please visit: https://www.floridaurgentrescue.org/donatemonthly To Foster: www.floridaurgentrescue.org/foster To Adopt: www.floridaurgentrescue.org/adopt To Donate: — Credit Card: www.floridaurgentrescue.org/donate — Venmo: @FloridaUrgentRescue — PayPal: floridaurgentrescue@gmail.com — CashApp: $FloridaUrgentRescue — Mail: Florida Urgent Rescue 7643 Gate Parkway #104-27 Jacksonville, FL 32256 Florida Urgent Rescue is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and FUR earned a Four-Star Rating on Charity Navigator, the highest possible rating. FUR also received a 2023 Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency by Guidestar, and is a 2023 Top Rated Nonprofit on Great Nonprofits. Learn more about FUR at: www.floridaurgentrescue.org