Whilst everything has been in such turmoil the last week or so there has been so much else going on. One arrival that I hinted at before all the sad news is Axel.....
Found as a stray and weighing just 21kg's I think it's fair to say he was in a horrendous way. Days at the vets on a drip followed, before he moved onto our good friends at The Animal House Rescue. Below are photo's of how he was found, and their original post when he was found.....
(Please note Facebook viewers will need to click the post title and view on www.shak.org.uk to see all the pictures.)
"This poor baby was found in this state barely able to walk in West Bromwich yesterday. As you can see he is extremely emaciated. This boy wouldn't have survived the pound so once again all the stops were pulled out by the super team - K9 Search UK, Chris (from the Sandwell Dog Wardens), and of course ourselves Team TAH.
Once in our care he was rushed straight to our vets (YourVets, Wythall) where he was weighed - urgh - 21kg, this dog should weigh around 38-42kg and his body score currently is 1.5 out of 5. On the way to the vets Lin was desperately trying to keep him warm as he was so cold. The van was turned in to a sauna with the heaters blowing full and even with that his temperature only registered 36c when ideally it should be 38.3 degrees c - 39.2 degrees c
He was so badly dehydrated that the vets couldn't get a vein in either of his front legs so had to use the back leg for the intravenous drip and they have been pushing fluids all night. He has no muscle tone and couldn't even climb into the van. He also has a horrible skin infection probably due to untreated demadex.
This baby will be staying in the emergency 24hour vets at Coventry (YourVets again) till Monday at the earliest on a drip. He is on antibiotics and tiny meals every 2 hours and has been Advocated.
This boy is fighting with everything he has and we will be right there fighting with him and for him.
Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he is going to need all the help he can get. It is going to be a long road ahead." The Animal House Rescue.
A long road indeed, and a road that has lead all the way to us. Axel made great progress whilst with Lynn and her team, and I'd like to say a big THANK YOU for being there for him when he needed it the most. They saved his life, and as you can see he quickly started to look better.....
He even had his own spot on the local news.....
https://www.facebook.com/charlottehjcross/videos/10102368092657128/
Everything looked to be going well, but then, well I let The Animal House tell the story.....
"Some times in rescue we have to make really hard decisions but what is always best for the animals long term health and happiness and also safety.
Today we had to make that decision for Axel. Don't worry Axel is going to have the best life ever - but for us we are heartbroken. For a while Axel has started feeling better, he has shown quite a few guarding traits and although we have kept on top of him, with the amount of animals in the rescue particularly cats, it has shown us that Axel needs a lot of help - more than we are able to give him, - yes we realise our limitations. We could have said we would keep him here but Axel deserved so much more than that.
We wouldn't have let him go just anywhere and so Axel begins another part of his rehabilitation and onwards to a happy life. Lin has gone today and driven 8 hours round trip to get him to SHAK. This place is amazing, Steve Wylie and his team take in dogs that no-one else would consider, mostly with behavioural issues, and work with them to modify their behaviour and get them to the best they can be. If they can't get them to a place where that are happy to let them go to long term fosters, then they stay with SHAK for life.
Axel needs to work his mind as well as his body and we think he would love (and be brilliant at) agility (eventually when he has built up his muscles). With the best will in the world we can't do this for him and run the rescue. Axel is a full on full time boy. If we didn't do this we would have let this beautiful boy down. Be assured we will be getting regular updates and pictures. We will continue to support Axel also. The money raised for him by you will go towards his continued treatment and his castration as soon as the vets think it's ok and then his vaccinations. This is one beautiful boy we will NEVER forget."
So that's how he came to us, and he's arrived at just the right time after everything that has gone on. Axel was muzzle trained when he arrived, and for both our safety and his we're continuing to use one until trust is fully built up. It's important he doesn't feel threatened in any, but he's so intelligent I'm sure that trust will come soon. As you can see he is already making friends.....
So we have another big character with a big story to tell..... Thanks again to The Animal House for all you have done for him.
(If you'd like to donate to help us continue our work you can do via PayPal to shak@shak.org.uk or by sending a cheque payable to SHAK. SHAK HQ. Greenwell Road, Alnwick, NE66 1HB)
Found as a stray and weighing just 21kg's I think it's fair to say he was in a horrendous way. Days at the vets on a drip followed, before he moved onto our good friends at The Animal House Rescue. Below are photo's of how he was found, and their original post when he was found.....
(Please note Facebook viewers will need to click the post title and view on www.shak.org.uk to see all the pictures.)
"This poor baby was found in this state barely able to walk in West Bromwich yesterday. As you can see he is extremely emaciated. This boy wouldn't have survived the pound so once again all the stops were pulled out by the super team - K9 Search UK, Chris (from the Sandwell Dog Wardens), and of course ourselves Team TAH.
Once in our care he was rushed straight to our vets (YourVets, Wythall) where he was weighed - urgh - 21kg, this dog should weigh around 38-42kg and his body score currently is 1.5 out of 5. On the way to the vets Lin was desperately trying to keep him warm as he was so cold. The van was turned in to a sauna with the heaters blowing full and even with that his temperature only registered 36c when ideally it should be 38.3 degrees c - 39.2 degrees c
He was so badly dehydrated that the vets couldn't get a vein in either of his front legs so had to use the back leg for the intravenous drip and they have been pushing fluids all night. He has no muscle tone and couldn't even climb into the van. He also has a horrible skin infection probably due to untreated demadex.
This baby will be staying in the emergency 24hour vets at Coventry (YourVets again) till Monday at the earliest on a drip. He is on antibiotics and tiny meals every 2 hours and has been Advocated.
This boy is fighting with everything he has and we will be right there fighting with him and for him.
Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he is going to need all the help he can get. It is going to be a long road ahead." The Animal House Rescue.
A long road indeed, and a road that has lead all the way to us. Axel made great progress whilst with Lynn and her team, and I'd like to say a big THANK YOU for being there for him when he needed it the most. They saved his life, and as you can see he quickly started to look better.....
He even had his own spot on the local news.....
https://www.facebook.com/charlottehjcross/videos/10102368092657128/
Everything looked to be going well, but then, well I let The Animal House tell the story.....
"Some times in rescue we have to make really hard decisions but what is always best for the animals long term health and happiness and also safety.
Today we had to make that decision for Axel. Don't worry Axel is going to have the best life ever - but for us we are heartbroken. For a while Axel has started feeling better, he has shown quite a few guarding traits and although we have kept on top of him, with the amount of animals in the rescue particularly cats, it has shown us that Axel needs a lot of help - more than we are able to give him, - yes we realise our limitations. We could have said we would keep him here but Axel deserved so much more than that.
We wouldn't have let him go just anywhere and so Axel begins another part of his rehabilitation and onwards to a happy life. Lin has gone today and driven 8 hours round trip to get him to SHAK. This place is amazing, Steve Wylie and his team take in dogs that no-one else would consider, mostly with behavioural issues, and work with them to modify their behaviour and get them to the best they can be. If they can't get them to a place where that are happy to let them go to long term fosters, then they stay with SHAK for life.
Axel needs to work his mind as well as his body and we think he would love (and be brilliant at) agility (eventually when he has built up his muscles). With the best will in the world we can't do this for him and run the rescue. Axel is a full on full time boy. If we didn't do this we would have let this beautiful boy down. Be assured we will be getting regular updates and pictures. We will continue to support Axel also. The money raised for him by you will go towards his continued treatment and his castration as soon as the vets think it's ok and then his vaccinations. This is one beautiful boy we will NEVER forget."
So that's how he came to us, and he's arrived at just the right time after everything that has gone on. Axel was muzzle trained when he arrived, and for both our safety and his we're continuing to use one until trust is fully built up. It's important he doesn't feel threatened in any, but he's so intelligent I'm sure that trust will come soon. As you can see he is already making friends.....
So we have another big character with a big story to tell..... Thanks again to The Animal House for all you have done for him.
(If you'd like to donate to help us continue our work you can do via PayPal to shak@shak.org.uk or by sending a cheque payable to SHAK. SHAK HQ. Greenwell Road, Alnwick, NE66 1HB)