Saint Francis Animal Sanctuary Inc.

WE ARE IN NEED OF PAPER TOWELS AND CHUX DIAPERS ( UNDER BED PADS ) IF YOU LIVE IN OR NEAR VERMILION PLEASE CONSIDER A DONATION! SEPT. 9, 2008!

In the past year and a half I tended to your wounds. With weekly medicated baths that you loved so much I admit I made them last a little longer then normal. When all of the dogs were getting treats my heart was breaking for you because the allergies made it impossible to eat normal food. I searched the Internet and found "allergy free" dog cookies in California. Bag after bag of ZD Ultra dog food and as a treat cans of ZD allergen free food. On and off prendisone slowly you healed. Though you never completely got better I knew no one would want you which made me want you even more. I know how much you looked forward to your "quality time" and so when I held you night after night I learned just where that spot was to scratch. I know your in a better place where you have no restrictions. Your still beautiful to me and I love you Cirrus until we meet again at the bridge I will forever hold you in my heart. Rest in peace my friend your torment on this earth is over.

Cirrus stopped eating a few days ago which was so strange becuase he loved his food. He was taken to the vet where he had extensive blood work, x-rays, testing for Cushing disease and IV fluid with medication to keep him alive while we figured out what was wrong and how to fix it. His liver enzymes were off the charts high. A liver biopsy was done during emergency surgery yesterday and we found the entire liver involved with cancer. As hard as it was I made the decision to let him cross over to the bridge while he was still asleep dreaming of cookies and running with puppies. We did everything we possibly could to make sure this was the right decision. Cirrus's vet bill for the last 3 days is $1,400.00 . I just could not let my friend die without knowing we did everything we could.

This poor senior Chihuahua named Cirrus came to rescue with Saint Francis Animal Sanctuary today ( 6-13-07 ) from Frederick MD. His skin condition is enough to make you want to cry but when the vet looked into his mouth and showed me and I had to ask... what is that? It looked like he had chewed green paper and it was stuck where his teeth use to be along the gum line. I have never seen such a mouth infection in my life. No wonder he was tender and tried to bite when we touched his little mouth. He is missing many teeth but in the back of his mouth the skin on the gums is so infected and swollen it has now covered the rotten teeth under it. His name is Cirrus and he does not have mange. His skin was tested and he has a staphylococcus aureus ( staph ) infection which is a bacterial skin infection. This has been going on for a long time by the way his skin looks.

His right eye is deformed an I do not think he has vision in it. Cirrus has a heart mummer and was tested for heart worm. He is negative!
The mouth infection and the skin infection have made his little life hell--! We are going to change all that! This little Chihauahua needs a chance to live pain free and as healthy as can be as he faces his retirement years. He is at the vet tonight and will receive a much needed dental to cut away the infected gums and teeth. He will be given a medicated bath and started on appropriate antibiotics. He will have a blood chem profile done to make sure everything looks good at that end. All I can say is this little guy has suffered enough please help us by making a donation to help cover his medical care. We are a 501(c)3 non profit group. We take special needs animals from all over this side of the United States. We need donations to make this happen. Please donate. Thank you

Rufus German Shepherd Dog has been with us for almost 5 years now. He was rescued from the Lorain County Dog pound where he sat in the back of his cage with his head down and very depressed. He had about 50 growth like warts all over his body.

Rufus was under weight and his hair very thin from scratching at the fleas. The workers put him in the very back of the pound where it was dark and cold. Who would take an old dog in this shape? We did! Rufus has been such a part of the family I cannot imagine life without him. His right ear is deformed from frost bite and feels like a "piggy ear". He has a mental problem when it comes to cars. Once he gets in an open car door he will NOT get out until he goes for a ride. In all these years I cannot count the times he has been driven around the block just so he would get out of the car.

Rufus had his growths removed. The flea situation was taken care of and he started to gain weight with good food and vet care. He quickly became our pet and worked his way to the bed room to sleep at night.

Rufus is now a senior and has lost the use of his back legs. He weighs around 115 pounds. We are using a wheel chair daily to get him up and out of the house. He can drag himself around the kitchen but loves to go outside. We would never turn our backs on a loyal and faithful friend and will continue to see Rufus through his rough times and senior years. Rufus is on daily medication to comfort him and reduce the inflammation in his arthritic joints.

BADLY BEATEN PUP NEEDS HELP FAST!!!!
We have a dire emergency!
We think it is a GSD mix puppy, 4 months old
We need a rescue immediately. I mean ASAP!!

This baby was badly beaten by drug dealers. They kicked it beat it with pipes and in the head. When they kicked it in the back they broke a leg.
This baby has to get out of there fast. This dog is with a vet near Cincinnati and, he will release it tomorrow. The vet is treating it and does not want any funds, just want this baby in a safe place. Please can someone help.
For now I will be the contact. I have not seen this dog but, the gentleman that rescued this poor soul can not be made public. Drug dealers are not exactly kind people.
PLEASE we need help fast. Do not know if it is a boy or girl. Just know that it is so terrified it is curled in a ball in a corner scared to death to move.

Tiger is at the vet today and will have his splint / cast removed while under anesthesia so our vet can assess the condition of his leg. We do not know if he has abrasions / lacerations / open areas under the cast. He came "as is". We were told the vet that placed the cast and took an X-ray of his fracture just wanted to get him out of the area because he was in fear of the drug dealers where he was located. This pup is safe now in a place far far away from the hell he experienced. The vet that treated him did NOT take an X-ray once the cast was placed to see if the bone was aligned correctly. We need to re cast, neuter while under anesthesia. Loaded with every kind of worms known to man and now all vaccinated & micro chipped. A few teeth are missing and one chipped I was told from getting hit in the face with the pipe.We were told he had eye damage from the beating but the swelling is now gone. We are also going to X-ray the ribs for any fractures.... the vet that treated him said he had bruised lungs.

Princess is a cute little baby Chihuahua that was born in a puppy mill in Missouri. She was taken in by a rescue in Missouri that wanted to send her to a special needs rescue because of the care needed for her meals. The puppy mill was going to kill her because she has a slight under bite and mega esophagus. When she eats too fast or too much she will vomit. There is a little pouch like bulge in her esophagus ( food pipe ) that goes into her stomach. We need to feed her small amounts of food several times a day. We have another mega esophagus on this web site "Lilly" the Boston Terrier. Lilly's is more severe and secondary to neurological damage. You can see Lilly's story on this web page towards the middle. This little baby is doing great and was spayed and micro chipped last week.

PUREBRED GERMAN SHEPHERD RESCUED(11-7-08)

Angel came from a dog pound in Tennessee where she was scheduled for euthanasia. A rescue pulled her and contacted us to see if we had room for a special needs dog. Fact: Most of our dogs come from other rescue groups that feel the dog's needs are more then they can manage either physically or financially. Angel is heart worm positive but that is not exactly what makes her a special needs. She has a growth on her back that we feel is most likely cancer. Angel is only 4 years old!

Angel is still at the vet where she has been almost a week. Heart worm treatment is now complete. The cost of her treatment was $530.42 . In 2 weeks she will undergo a spay and removal of the leather like growth on her back. The doctors taking care of her have told me many times how great this dog is to work with. NO aggressive behavior of any kind has been noticed. She is a wonderful young dog that will need a home when we get her all fixed up. She has come so far from that dog pound in Tennessee where they were going to kill her. The next step in her medical treatment will be over $500.00. Please consider a donation so we can continue to help this girl recover and find a loving home.

Please help us - we depend on donations to care for the sick and injured animals we take from all over the United States. Saint Francis Animal Sanctuary usually takes the dogs that no one else will take due to medical complexity or financial cost. For many this is their only chance at a home and life with a family someday. Please consider adoption of a special needs animal. Thank you.

Someone sent me an email with a photo of this poor dog sitting in a dog pound in central Ohio. I could not sleep that night thinking of this poor soul knowing he would be passed up by every person coming to the pound to adopt a dog! His owner truned him in to a kill pound because they did not want to spend the money to take care of his tumor. They let the tumor get so large the blood supply to the tumor could not keep up with the growing size. The tumor became necrotic and started to rot while still attached to this poor dogs head. When it became so large and ugly they did not want to look at it any longer he was taken to the pound to be killed. We drove for hours not wanting to even wait for the transport to bring him to us. He came out of the back of the pound on a make shift leash HAPPY, BOUNCING AND READY TO PLAY!

Corky was so happy getting in the car to go to his new home. He walked from one side of the back seat to the other trying to stick his head out to catch the wind in his face it was as if he was smelling freedom for the first time in his life. We took this little guy to the vet on the same day we picked him up from the kill shelter. He is having the tumor removed today ( 10-30-08 ) He had blood work and is heart worm negative. He has received all his vaccinations and is now micro chipped and neutered. The vet found heavy tarter on his teeth with one tooth that is fractured and needs to be pulled during his dental work. We are going to give this little dog a chance at a life that will not include living with fleas crawling all over his body, to the point he would scratch off almost all his hair. This life will not include living in a pen or at the end of a chain in someones back yard. We are going to find someone to love him like we already do! Corky is at the vet today for surgery and general clean up of all the fleas that have lived on his body for a long time. Blood work, vaccinations, heart worm check, medicated bath, flea treatment, antibiotics, dental with extractions and tumor removal our estimate for his medical cost is approximately $600.00 to $700.00.

Please donate for Cork's surgery! Please help us give him a second chance at life!
(WE ARE A 501(C)3 NON PROFIT GROUP AND DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE) Thank you !

Chiller has every right to be sad. He found himself in a South Carolina dog pound. He was tested "STRONG HEART WORM POSITIVE". He had hot tar drip on his side which dried and caused a bacterial skin infection under the tar which was never removed.

Chiller came to us on a transport with Muscles the little crippled dog. We took him in for heart worm treatment and he came through just fine. The tar was removed from his side and he was treated with antibiotics for the infection. You can see some of the black tar on his side in the photo from the dog pound in South Carolina. What a sad photo!

Little did this dog know his life was going to change for the better. Chiller was the perfect dog to have here at Saint Francis Animal Sanctuary. He got along with other dogs and never NEVER gave me one second of trouble. Just a few days ago a women called and said she was looking all over for a dog. Her dog had passed away a year ago and she was now ready for a companion again. I told her "no matter how many dogs you look at please stop and just take a look at Chiller ". When she did stop to see Chiller and saw her 4 year old grandson walk him on a leash in the front yard with no problems.... she fell in love.

This poor girl is only 1 year old and she cannot open her mouth more then 1/2 inch. SHE CANNOT PANT WHEN SHE GETS HOT, BARK, DRINK OR EAT LIKE A NORMAL DOG AND IF SHE HAS AN EMESIS ( VOMIT ) SHE WILL MOST LIKELY DIE BECAUSE SHE WILL ASPIRATE THE VOMIT. IF CHLOE OVER HEATS AND CANNOT PANT SHE WILL MOST LIKELY DIE.

This 1 year old dog has learned how to drink water by submerging her entire face into the dish and suck the water into her mouth. When Chloe eats she has learned out of despiration to push her entire face into a can of dog food and push the food up between her closed mouth. Dogs perspire ( sweat ) by panting. Chloe CANNOT pant because her mouth will not open. Digital X rays have shown that the bones have grown together on only one side of her face. She has been to several vets and a specialist that feels surgery may help this dog by releasing the lower and upper jaw bones that have grown together now. Chloe has an appointment at OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY VETERINARIAN TEACHING SCHOOL on Tuesday September 30, 2008.

Chloe needs this life saving surgery and this is the way it works at Ohio State as far as paying the bill. We get a discount because we are a 501(c)3 non profit group. The discount ONLY applies to the first visit for the pet's current medical condition. So if Chloe goes to her appointment and they recommend surgery she has to stay right then and there. The discount will apply to the entire bill for as long as she stays and has the procedure done on her first visit. PLEASE HELP US ! We need donations in the next few days to pay for this surgery. Please consider a donation for Chloe.

Chloe was taken to the Ohio State Veterinarian Teaching Hospital yesterday. We had her examined by several doctors that were intrigued by her condition. They took her digital x rays to a board certified radiologist who said he feels this is NOT A TRAUMATIC INJURY! The diagnosis of trauma came from a speciality hospital in Akron. The diagnosis they came up with is : CARTILOGENOUS EXOSTOSIS !

I was told this is a conginital condition which is rare. It was explained to me to be an over growth of bone in that area of the jaw that has now locked her jaw in one position and that is why she has no ability to open her mouth. OSU is doing a CT ( cat ) scan today which will confirm her diagnosis. When they do surgery to remove part of the jaw bone they may have to do a tracheotomy ( hole in her throat ) to let her breath while under anesthesia. They will try to get the endotracheal tube down the throat if the can work it into the 1/2 opening of her mouth.

The only other thing I can remember from the medical visit was this. If she has to have a tracheotomy then she would be required to stay in intensive care which is $300.00 to $500.00 per day! Her CT scan is approximately $950.00. I do not remember the cost but the other factors are the cost of the tracheotomy , medication, if needed biopsy cost and then the cost of the bone removal surgery! Our written estimate is ( MY MISTAKE ) ~~$2000.00~~ $3000.00 to $5000.00 all depending on what they find out in the CT scan and biopsy.

FOLKS THIS IS OUR "HAIL MARY" RESCUE BECAUSE IT WILL ONLY BE BY THE GRACE OF GOD WE COME UP WITH ENOUGH MONEY FOR THIS LIFE SAVING SURGERY!

UPDATE 10-13-08 Chloe spent almost 2 weeks at Ohio State Veterinarian Teaching Hospital. She was released 10-10-08. Chloe can now open her mouth, pant like a dog and give kisses! This poor dog can now live a long and healthy life thanks to all those who donated to her care and Ohio State's Dr. Ball !