HUA Blog

Hemi was turned into Hearts United for Animals by a family who realized that she would grow too big for their landlord to accept at their apartment.  She had been given to them by someone else at the age of only 5 months, perhaps a backyard breeder.  As soon as Hemi arrived we realized she was lethargic for a puppy and we were able to feel the blood coursing through her heart valve under her arm.  We knew that was drastic and took her to Omaha to be evaluated right away.  Hemi was diagnosed with Patent Ductus Arteriosus, which is an opening between two major blood vessels leading from the heart that did not close after birth. It is the worst case that we have seen. Without surgical treatment, over 50% of dogs pass from heart failure within one year.

Mobile Animal Clinic in Omaha recently upgraded their equipment and facilities to be able to accommodate major surgeries that used to have to be performed at K-State or Iowa State.  Dr Merkley came in to perform the operation with the help of Dr Ellis Jensen from Mobile.  It is a very delicate operation with much opportunity for the worst to happen, but luck and skill were on Hemi's side and she came through it better than the surgeons even imagined that she would.  That night Hemi walked into the Animal Emergency Clinic on her own for overnight observation.  She spent another week at Mobile being monitored but she let everyone know that she felt great and was ready to go!  Dr Jensen said that within a day of her operation it was like flipping on a switch. Hemi had found high gear.  She leapt around the clinic showering the staff with hugs and kisses.

Hemi had a long recovery of rest and confinement at HUA, which she did not appreciate, but toys and regular visits made it easier on her.  She really just wanted to run and play.  Hemi is now fully recovered and is running and playing like a happy young Labradoodle should be.  She loves her tennis balls, loves to play with her teddy bear and adores walks with the people.  Hemi says enough of shelter and hospital life, she'd like a family asap!  She should have no lasting effects from the operation.  She is good as new and ready to go, go, go!

Hemi's operation cost $4,000 and we wish to thank all of the dedicated supporters who make it possible for Hearts United for Animals to provide these life saving operations when needed.  It means the world to us, and it definitely means the whole big wide world to Hemi who will soon be off on the best adventures of her life.  Click here to donate to our medical fund so that we can stand ready to help more dogs like Hemi who so desperately need us.  For adoption information please write to tera@hua.org or click here to visit Hemi's adoption page.

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A sheriff of a small town in South Dakota called one of our directors, Julie, who is also involved with Almost Home Canine Rescue, about 30 Pomeranians who were starving with no water. They were living in a patch of noxious weeds taller than people. The owner had planned on shooting them, but she was allowed to willfully surrender them. It was very difficult as many had to be caught with catchpoles. Many were so afraid that their only response was to bite - many completely feral.

30 Poms were caught, along with one cat who did not survive. The cat was on top of a doghouse unresponsive and covered in flies.  He was humanely euthanized upon arrival at the Animal Emergency Clinic in Omaha.  Working in the heat and filth caused some rescuers to get sick. Newborn pups were found under boards with the mother eating a dead bird. There was no food or water on the place. Julie said it was one of the worst things she has ever seen.

Fifteen of the dogs were transported immediately to Hearts United for Animals. The other dogs went to Almost Home Canine Rescue in South Dakota and Brookings Humane Society in South Dakota.

Two days later the sheriff's department went back with Julie to check to make sure no animals had been hidden.  They found 6 more Pomeranians and a Sheltie who has mange so badly that her face is open and raw.  One of the Poms is pregnant and due to give birth at any moment.  They had been hidden at the very back of the property in weed patches.  One of the Poms had fur so terribly matted that a frog was living in it.  The Sheltie and 2 of the Pomeranians came to Hearts United right away.  The pregnant one is staying in foster care at Almost Home Canine Rescue in South Dakota.

To make a donation for the 18 dogs in the care of Hearts United for Animals, text GIFT to 20222 to make a $10.00 donation or you can make a donation online at www.hua.org.  They will have extensive medical needs.  So far we have found abcesses from injury and bad teeth, pyoderma infections on some of their faces and bodies, patches of vermin living on their skin under their coats that were so badly matted, circulatory problems from having fur tangled around their legs rendering the legs unusable, and we anticipate more to come once all of their vetting is done.

Please check out our Facebook page for updates on the dogs and to sign an online thank you card for Tim, Nicole and Roger - the sheriffs who worked so diligently to make sure these dogs were saved from an awful fate and given the chance at wonderful lives.  Thank you so much for your support.  Your contributions allow us to rescue and care for dogs from horrible situations like this.

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Transporters Rachel and Michael called from the road to say that the dogs they just rescued from a Nebraska Puppy Mill were in very bad condition.  As a Hearts United for Animals employee Rachel has transported and rescued many puppy mill dogs, so we knew it had to be bad when she was so shocked and appalled.  She said the smell was atrocious, the dogs were covered in mats, extremely filthy and worst of all they were crawling with lice.  Our hearts broke when we heard this news.

Nothing could have prepared us for seeing it in person when they arrived.  The cocker spaniels had huge clumps of feces and dried food hanging from their ears.  A sweet little pekingese was missing one eye and had mats the size of a baseball on his head and belly.  One cocker spaniel girl was so sick and downtrodden that she was lying  stiff with her face in the back of her crate unwilling to move or look at us.  When we did gently lift her from the crate we saw that both eyes were badly infected with masses hanging out of them.  Some of the little ones were so happy to be rescued that they sang the entire trip, making gentle noises to make friends with their rescuers.  One little tiny pomeranian was very happy to be rescued but is also quite ill.  All of their teeth are bad, but his are hanging on by a thread.  He has a cough and is breathing hard which we suspect may mean infection from his awful teeth has gone to his heart.  He is twelve years old.  He was not well enough to even finish having his bath on his first full day at HUA.  Caregivers had to stop and let him rest as he was too stressed and ill to continue.

Political games are the order of the day in Nebraska, as nearly every state, but these dear dogs are the pawns who pay the price.  Their health will be restored as best as it possibly can be under the care of HUA.  They will have good food, comfortable beds and be clean for the first time in their lives.  Hopefully they will find families who love them so that they can try to forget the misery of the first eight to twelve years of their lives.  But it doesn't make it ok that this happened to them in the first place.  Inspectors of these horrific facilities walk a fine line.  They try to gain compliance in places where it cannot happen, all because the state wants to keep them in business.  Senators walk a fine line of trying to appease breeders and rescuers so that their constituencies remain happy, but in the end money wins out.  Breeders stay in business even when their conduct is criminal, just so that the dirty business of dog breeding in the state can remain promoted, falling under the umbrella of keeping agriculture strong in Nebraska.  Bills are watered down to the point of being ineffective and the small number of control measures in place are ignored for the good of the pockets of the breeders.  There is no consideration for what happens to the dogs after the breeders are done using and abusing them for years, or the extreme cost to the rescues who take on the responsibility to repair the years of neglected medical needs.  Most of all there is no thought for the suffering dogs.  The breeder of these dogs may have gotten rich of off the offspring they produced, but we are here to say that they are clearly morally bankrupt and it should be something that the state is ashamed to support.

Please go to www.hua.org to donate for the care of these dogs.  Your kind support enables us to continue to rescue and rehabilitate these sweet souls who so desperately need us.

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Poor little Rocky had one of the roughest starts to life we've ever heard of.  When he was rescued by a friend and brought to HUA we were completely horrified.  Both of his eyes were badly damaged.  He fit in the palm of our hands he was so tiny.  He still had the strength to cry out in pain and hunger, begging us for help.  He was rushed immediately to the Animal Emergency Clinic in Omaha.  They said he was the worst cases of starvation and dehydration they had ever seen.  He could not blink his painful little eyes because he was so dehydrated.  They fed him his first solid meal of canned food ever and he gobbled it up so fast that he got the hiccups.  They immediately put him on warmed IV bags as make shift hot water bottles and started him on small amounts of morphine for the pain.  He was full of worms so he received medicine for that too.  Soon he was passed out, sleeping like the tiny, precious little baby that he is, with a full tummy and relief from the pain he had been experiencing since he was only 2 weeks old.

On Monday morning, after spending the weekend at the Animal Emergency Clinic, he transferred to Mobile Animal Clinic where he would spend the week receiving further tests and care.  They found that he had giardia and had only half of the red blood cells and blood proteins that he should have.  The good news came a few days later that he is capable of making red blood cells, so with continued good nutrition and care he should rebound without transfusions.  He also made a trip that Monday to Veterinary Eye Specialists of Nebraska.  Dr McIlnay said that after approximately a month he can have his badly damaged eye removed assuming he has regained his health enough to do so.  He is much too small and weak to undergo any operations right now.  His other eye, also damaged but not as badly, has no pressure, no sensitivity to light and will also likely be better off being removed.

With each passing day Rocky appears to gain strength and spunk.  Dr Jensen at Mobile Animal Clinic says that he isn't thriving, but he isn't failing either.  We are working hard to turn that around and help him thrive.  On Thursday he was able to transfer to foster care where he is eating every couple of hours.  He chews on his foster mom's fingers when he is hungry.  He is eating and well on his own now but still needs to drink from a syringe.  He has antibiotic eye ointment treatments in both eyes 6 times a day.  He loves his soft bed, blankets and many toys.  He has a heating pad under his bed to make sure he is warm.  Most of all he loves to be cuddled and hugged.  It's his favorite thing ever.  He will continue to go in once a week to be weighed and have follow up blood tests.  Weight gain will be a very good sign that he is starting to thrive.  Rocky is doing his best to study hard for his weigh in test this coming week.  He likes it when his foster mom warms up his canned food and puts a little water it in for him.  He is eating over a half a can a day now.

Rocky's breeder will go on to sell his litter mates without much of a thought of the money that should have been spent on Rocky's care.  We know that.   We see it all the time.  But this particular case has hit us hard, really punched us in the gut.  It is one of the most tragic things we've ever seen.  It drives home how reckless and disgusting the dog breeding business can be, whether a full fledged puppy mill or a poor, uneducated, unkind backyard breeder as in this case.  We received word that this happened when Rocky was only two weeks old, and that it was an injury from his mother or litter mates.  We are hard pressed to believe that was the means of injury, and so is our veterinarian.  This steels our resolve to educate the public never to buy puppies from pet stores, puppy mills or backyard breeders.  Without demand breeders like this would have no reason to fill orders for the supply of sick, neglected puppies they churn out.

We would like to extend many heartfelt thanks to our wonderful veterinary clinics who always come to the rescue at moment's notice, and to all of our supporters who have been rooting for Rocky and donating for his emergency and extended care.  He has many fans, and if love can pull him through he is certain to grow big and strong very soon!  Please visit our donation page at www.hua.org if you would like to donate toward Rocky's care, or feel free to mail a donation to the shelter at Hearts United for Animals PO Box 286, Auburn, NE 68305.

Click here to like our Facebook page where we will post updates on Rocky.

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All of the puppies survived!  They are now fat, happy, healthy and having a great time playing and enjoying themselves.  They had their photo session last weekend and are now up for adoption.  They were nicknamed "The Bathtub Puppies" at Mobile Animal Clinic, where they spent a week recovering after they left the emergency hospital.  It was touch and go, as some would rally and then slip backward but against the odds every one of them has returned to normal health.  The total expense to Hearts United for Animals, not including their routine spay neuters and vaccines, was $5,200.  Donations for their bills are still needed.  It was a leap of faith that most rescues could not take on, but we could not turn our backs on them and we knew that our wonderful supporters would come through for the sick babies.  They are growing large, with big, well fed bellies.  Their eyes are bright and happy and their coats are soft and clean.  They love snuggling in blankies and playing with each other and with all of their new toys.  Many thanks to those who contributed and continue to contribute to help us save precious lives.  Justin, Jordan, Jonah, Selena, Sheldon and Spencer thank you and are forever grateful.  We also wish to thank the Animal Emergency Clinic and Mobile Animal Clinic in Omaha who worked tirelessly to save them.  These dogs journey from being left dying in a bathtub to being saved and restored to heath is one that took many hands and hearts working together.

Donations can be made online at www.hua.org or mailed to Hearts United for Animals PO Box 286 Auburn, NE  68305.

Please enjoy their "after" photos and help us spread the word that they are looking for wonderful families to adopt them!

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