Sam July 30, 2011 Update (Pics at the end)

Well, Sam is in good spirits even though he is still in pain.  His leg is very swollen from surgery but this is normal according to the vet.  He gets very happy and excited when he sees us and other dogs, and you can tell he wishes he could play.

Here is a video of him when he got home after surgery:  Sam July 28, 2011 Post-Op

We want to thank everyone for their support!  Those who have donated, tweeted/re-tweeted, e-mailed to friends, liked Hartman's Haven Dog Rescue on Facebook, and everything in between have been nothing but a blessing to Sam and the Dog Rescue Community in general!  Without you, we would never be able to make a difference.  We want to reinforce that passing along the message is just as important as donating and that everyone involved is appreciated!

Justin took a trip to PETCO Friday night to pick up some high quality food for Sam.  While he was there, he also found some toys to get this good looking boy a start to a great life as well as some natural treats to help in the healing process.

Sam is a very happy boy, but does not like to take his pills very well.  The pain meds have a bitter taste so he gets mad at Crystal and gets the puppy dog/mad look when he gets them.  He is also on chewable calcium pills, which have been a chore due to him still not feeling well and getting him to eat.  We are currently mixing Natural Recipe wet food with his Natural Recipe dry food to entice him to eat.  He is slowing eating, but at least drinking very well, so hopefully he puts on the weight he needs.

Once again, thank you to everyone!  Please forward our blog, re-tweet us, donate, like us on Facebook, or just plain tell our story to someone and hope it makes a difference! 

Justin

Update from Thursday, July 28, 2011

Sam had his surgery today for his broken leg. This break was much worse than expected. The vet said that it was probably about 2 weeks old because the bone was starting to heal back with the 2 fractured parts side by side which would have been horrible. They had to chisel the bones off each other and realign them with a intermediately pin. The muscle had also contracted around the fracture and had to be stretched. This all ended up taking almost 2 hours, much longer than expected. But, the vet feels this will be successful. He is now on high quality puppy food, pain meds, and calcium supplements. He has 15 staples in his leg. :(

We cannot thank you all for the huge response to our plea and all of the support with emails, donations, and forwarding our message along. Sam is a great dog and still giving kisses even as he was waking up from anesthesia, I am sure he was saying "thank you for helping save me!"

 

Justin & Crystal

Sam the Abused Pit bull Pup and his story (Pics at the end)

A friend of mine called me today and asked that I come get a dog from their medical office (for humans). She said when they got to work this dog was sitting outside the doors. They unlocked the building and went inside. The doors are automatic and as they were getting everything turned on the doors opened and the dog walked right in and curled up in a corner of the waiting room as if he said, ok, I am first in line to be seen, please help me!

I went and picked him up and realized this dog was in severe pain and limping, but still very sweet and tried to crawl into my lap. He looked at me with those big brown eyes and gave a couple of kisses. He needed immediate vet attention so I drove him back to my personal vet. He sat in the passenger side of my van all the way to the vet and barely moved he hurts so bad. He seems exhausted. Here are the findings:

1. X-ray confirmed he has a severe femoral fracture (x-ray attached). But no signs of any road rash. We think this is physical abuse from a person.
 

2. Approx 5 months old, still has puppy teeth.

3. Home ear cropping, his ears are almost gone. Looks like someone cut them off with scissors.

4. Emaciated with ribs showing and his belly rumbling.

5. Healed scars over face and neck, from dog bites (bait dog or fighting dog in training).

6. Not neutered.

Here is a video of him at the vet yesterday:  Sam July 27, 2011 and Sam July 27, 2011 Video 2

His vet costs are going to be approximately $700. After treating parvo pups for the last 2 weeks with a huge bill and now this our account is drained. Please consider donating so we can have this guy his much needed surgery!

You can donate by clicking the PayPal symbol on the top right of the page or by mailing a check to the following address:

Hartman's Haven Dog Rescue

P.O. Box 742

Conover, NC 28613

For any individual or company that would like to request more information or needs a copy of our IRS Determination Letter to prove tax-exempt status, please e-mail us at hartmanshaven@gmail.com and we would be glad to send that over.

We thank you all for reading our story.  Even if you cannot donate, please do your part protecting animals and being a voice for them.  Forwarding this along means just as much as donating!

Justin & Crystal

Hartman's Haven Dog Rescue

We are in the process of designing www.hartmanshaven.org and will be using this site to keep everyone up-to-date with our rescue and items going on.  Please share our site, Like Us on Facebook, and encourage your communities to step-up and make a difference when it comes to animals!  Pets should not be treated as property, but like FAMILY!

Justin