Meet Miss Florence (now known as "Tipsy")
Below is her intake picture at the shelter.
First evening home from the shelter and very, very happy...even being quarantined in the bathroom, she had a blast.
This is Florence. She's a beagle and she weighs 15lbs. She messed my head up bad after I saw her last week. She was in shock and outside curled up in a ball while other dogs walked all over her. I was sick to my stomach. The week I had to wait before I could go to Devore and pull her was the longest week of my life. She was in awful condition, so much that I started to cry (well, the crying part is normal - but I was distraught). I immediately went inside to tell the shelter staff, and they were also upset, kindly brought her inside and kept her there until the following week when I saved her. I'm so grateful for that and feel like they actually saved her life in doing so (I know..odd).
Florence defines why I think dogs are so wonderful. At a glance, it seems as if she's been tortured for longer than I'd ever want to imagine. My vet thinks she was likely a bait dog, also abused by humans. I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with bait dogs, if not, I'll just say bad things happened to her and leave it at that. I knew she had a potential head injury, was thin, and was sick. Once I got her I realized it was much, much worse. First thing I noticed was she probably never had a bath her entire life. The next was the fact she was infested with fleas and ticks. So badly that you could stand 10' away and see bugs crawling all over her. Her skin was bright pink and irritated. Then I noticed she didn't have just a head injury (with an abscess that formed); she had old and new wounds all over her body. Her mouth didn't close completely and seemed "off", as did the overall look of her face. She spent her first night of freedom in my bathroom, and was really happy to be there, too. Upon sitting her down I immediately realized that there was a great chance she had suffered some neurological damage. She couldn't walk like a 'normal' dog, she ran into things, tripped, stumbled, and fell over; she walked much like a heavily intoxicated person would. Somehow after the hell she has been through, she is still trusting. She isn't afraid of dogs at all, and just the same for humans. She loves to be loved on.
I loaded her up on some Clavamox and Codeine (for dogs), gave her some Critical Care food, and tucked her in for the night. I doubt she's had a bed before, because she was overly happy to have hers. She'd get up, clumsily run and flop down in it over and over, until finally the codeine kicked in and she was out for the count. On several occasions when checking in on her I woke her up because I thought she was dead, when she was actually just passed the heck out!
The morning came and I heard a series of thuds on the door, which was her head-butting it. She made a scene and was super happy to see me, and I was super happy the vet was open so I could get her in there immediately.
She spent the entire day at the vet, and was also there overnight. I've brought some pretty bad cases to my vet before, and I'm sure she's seen others as a colleague of mine takes her rescues there, too. Florence shook my vet up bad enough to make her cry. She said she can't imagine how long or what all this dog has been put through, but it makes her sick to see the marks left behind.
Her abusers shaved her teeth down, which according to Google is common practice for dog-fighters to do to their bait dogs. Her jaw was also broken at some point in time and healed crooked, which explains why her mouth doesn't completely close and why it appears to be crooked. There's a slight chance the oddities with her teeth could have been done by her, it's hard to tell, really. It would explain her jaw being broken if it were done by the hands of humans, though. Her tail has also been broken, and much like her jaw, has healed crooked. Her eyes aren't exactly symmetrical, but I personally think it makes her even cuter!
Her body is covered in scars from head to tail, most of them being on her pretty little head. There's no way to know if her lack of coordination is permanent or not, but for now, it appears that is the only thing outside of visible scarring, that may be a lasting reminder of her past. At a glance, she does look a bit "off" - yet in an adorable way; she is still a bright little girl and overwhelmingly loving. She immediately picked up on using her potty pads!
She was given injections, fluids, and all sorts of other stuff at the vet. My favorite and hers...she got a damn near two hour oatmeal medicated bath along with flea and tick removal (and one dose of capstar). They said she had a huge smile the entire time she was being bathed. Her skin was bright pink from the fleas eating her up, so I was most excited for her to get that bath. I knew she'd feel so much better and she sure did.
She's in a foster home now with Valerie Ashton of Upward Dog Rescue. She is now available for adoption! Please send me an email at theanimalpad@gmail.com if you're interested in giving this uniquely wonderful little girl a forever home.
On her way to her foster home! She was riding with Stephanie Nisan...she ate her designer sunglasses, used her arm as a chew toy, and pooped in the car. :)
If you'd like to donate to help us save more dogs like Florence aka Tipsy, please click the chipin below!
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