Please help with surgery for Rescue Dog

Our friend Elizabeth needs our help.

Elizabeth runs Gunn Dogs Rescue in Arkansas and has rescued hundreds of shelter dogs in the past. She has rescued puppy mill dogs, dogs found abandoned on the highway and even dogs someone was selling out of a box in a parking lot.

Elizabeth was promised help by another "Rescue," and agreed to rescue eight doodle pups and a couple other dogs from a back yard breeder and found abandoned in Arkansas. These dogs were sick, some had been eating rat poison and all needed medical attention and socializing. Some didn't survive.

Elizabeth has done a wonderful job and found homes for most of them. But because she was promised help and that help didn't come, Elizabeth now finds herself struggling to make ends meet. One of the dogs, Grant needs to have surgery tomorrow. Here's the story in Elizabeth's words:

Grant had been hit by a car on the highway where I picked him up. And we don't know about the rat poison - someone whose yard he wandered up into, I imagine. Poor thing has really had a rough time of it. Almost all of the original 13 or so Doodles I got in that week have been adopted - I still have one of the Mad Scientist puppies - Nash - who is growing like a weed! And Grant is still here, of course, along with his mother Sophie, the Standard Poodle. We think she is his mother, anyway - they were wandering together, along with a third Doodle pup that we never recovered. Rumor about town is that they belonged to a local backyard breeder, but he denied it when the Sheriff questioned him. Small towns in Arkansas can be rough for dogs. A witness saw Sophie and Grant (we assume it was Grant) get hit by cars after they were literally dumped in the middle of a four-lane highway - we are assuming that the third Doodle pup was killed, but we never located his body. It was horrible. One redneck (excuse me, I can't help it) - even admitted to shooting at them to get them out of his yard. No one fed them or gave them any water, and it was late July with temperatures in the 100's. The guy, we think who dumped them, is the ex-husband of the woman the Mad Scientist pups came from. Two of them had died before I got them. I need to take a road trip back to that area and make sure there aren't more Doodles wandering around down there.

A lot of people tried to help with donations, but, as you know, most of the money was - ah - "diverted" by another rescue and never made it to the Arkansas Doodles. But what goes around comes around, you know? I still owe a huge vet bill, but my wonderful friends at the vet are very understanding and trying to help raise donations to put towards the bill. I am blessed to have so many awesome friends out there!

Here's some of the original story for those of you who didn't follow it:

Eight 10-week-old labradoodle puppies were taken in by Elizabeth Gunn of Gunn Dogs Rescue in Arkansas. There were 3 chocolate girls and 5 boys, chocolate and black.

These babies were severely malnourished, flea and worm infested, had various skin conditions, eye and ear infections, diarrhea, and giardia. They had never seen a vet.

These puppies were starving, dehydrated and lethargic when they arrived. Initial vetting indicated that they are Parvo free but they need to be closely monitored for symptoms over the first few weeks and fecal tests had to be repeated with or without presentation of symptoms. They all required sub-cutaneous fluids and they were treated for all the various infections along with the worms and giardia. Elizabeth also provided them with electrolyte supplements and high calorie puppy food.

11/3 Update on Grant -

I am terribly worried about Grant - he is continuing to vomit a lot, and has lost what little weight he has gained. I am afraid I may feel a mass now in his abdomen, so he will be seeing the vet on Monday. Please send prayers to Grant - he has had such a rough time. If anyone would like to help out with his vet bills, you can call my vet directly - Park Hill Pet Hospital - 501-758-7387. They know me well there - oh, too well - LOL! My bill with them each month probably pays their rent, and I have gotten behind - argh! I am so embarrassed that I was not able to pay my bill after over $2000.00 was taken from the Arkansas Doodle Project by "that other rescue", that I have avoided taking Grant to the vet because of it. Anyway, after the fiasco with the misappropriated donations, I am loathe to even ask - so thought maybe if people knew they could send a donation directly to my vet, that might help assure everyone that the Arkansas Doodles will actually get the donations this time!
Anyway, paws crossed that Grant will be ok...I gave him some Zantac earlier tonight before his dinner, and so far no vomiting - but he seems to do it in the night mostly. I have tried everything I can think of and am out of ideas on what might be wrong, and now with feeling the mass I'm really worried. If anyone has any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact me. My home number is 501-888-8516, my email address is gunndogs@yahoo.com (also my Paypal account address). Thanks for all the kind words of welcome from everyone!

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16977351

11/8 Update on Grant -

Grant is at the vet's - he does have a very large mass in his abdomen - it doesn't look good at all. They are going to to exploratory surgery either this afternoon or tomorrow. I am cashing in my IRA to pay for his surgery. I feel so bad that I waited at all to take him to the vet - but once I found the mass, I got him right in. I have a terrible feeling about this, and have been crying all morning. Sometimes rescue is so heartbreaking. Please continue to send prayers for Grant and while you're at it, ask God to please help me get through this. My heart is breaking.

If anyone would like to help out with Grant's vet bills, you can call his vet directly - Park Hill Pet Hospital - 501-758-7387.

To pay by Credit Card by Paypal the email is gunndogs@yahoo.com

Any amount will be appreciated.

REST IN PEACE AT THE RAINBOW BRIDGE, GRANT.

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Permalink Reply by Susan D. on November 12, 2010 at 9:58am

I am so sorry! I checked in today to see how he was and found this distressing news. My prayers are with you and Grant, poor boy! He will find peace where is going.

Member Since 2009Permalink Reply by Dr. Judith P. LaVorgna on November 12, 2010 at 5:22pm

ynne, please let Elizabeth know that The Doodle Messenger would love to post Grant also on the memorial page. All we need is his photo and a few wonderful words from Elizabeth. The more friends the better on the Memorial pages...with you and with us.

Let me also say that I am one step short of being enraged about the comments regarding donating to a not for profit rescue. Apparently the writer is unaware of how many rescues in this country can not afford to incorporate. They need money for vetting and immediate shelter, food and medicine...some are busy doing that opposed to paperwork, especially rescues such as Elizabeth's dealing with many different kinds of dogs needing homes.

Let me say clearly that if you have to worry about taking a donation off your taxes, then it is hardly worth donating at all. Most particularly when the Veterinarian office is listed as the site of donation. Please. If the writer/s of those comments were going to give a huge amount of money to anyone and is so concerned about a tax deduction, then give it to a not for profit like the one being discussed...and watch the pie chart cut, often, by salaries at the upper levels. It makes me almost ill to have read that kind of comment with a dog so close to death and then ultimately, dying.

Rescue is sometimes the business of the dying dog, the very sick dog. It isn't always a pretty story and it happens everywhere across the world everyday. I think the greater question is whether the life of the dog has an importance to a poster who has to check through with her husband, tax accountant, and possibly her particular "support group"...is reason enough for people to stay away from the rest of us..."if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." The bill for this dog's surgery will not die with him, of that we can be very sure. Why, in the midst of crisis is there a need to check on whether what is given will be "tax deductible"...what happened in the years before not for profit organizations? Really, if it can't be a gift of the heart, don't even post about it if you get my gyst.

With my own eyes I saw the chip in donation amount of $3,000. to the not for profit asking for support (generally dogs needing care are taken under non profit status with monies available to them for medical care immediately from the rescue to the Veterinarian...look at the Idog model to see that routinely occuring nationally as a model and as an example).not in some grave appeal time after time... With my own eyes I saw the chip in amount produced, and in other correspondence, saw that only half of that amount was given to Ms. Gunn. So where did the rest of the money go...where did half of the pledged money go?I'm assuming the less than half to Ms Gunn contained the posters donation!!!

As far as I'm concerned, Ms. Gunn, from her not for profit status, doing her work from her heart and her years of doing so, and a nurse in another life I understand, ought to ask the IRS to investigate that matter. Yes, there are criminal issues around so called "not for profit" organizations.
As for the poster and her worried husband. They won't have to worry any longer, Grant is dead. They were simply blowing in the wind. An ill one at that.

I'm sorry Lynne, I've tried to hold my passion for rescue and for medical help in check. Apparently my psyche has overcome me. Ms. Gunn, thank you for caring for these dogs, having a Vet who gave Grant's unfortunate life his best shot possible, and to those who have to worry about their tax accountant, feel free to send $30 or $40. dollars along the next time there is a crisis because it comes from the heart, not the wallet. I have never been happier, and I can hear my late husband clapping it up somewhere near the Rainbow Bridge, to have always been a "A Woman of Independent Means," I call my own shots...don't have to rely one anyone else to tell me what is the right thing to do.

AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on November 12, 2010 at 5:50pm

Thank you, Judy and you are right. As these "Other's" continue to show themselves, their true agenda also shows. Marlene has done this before and I corresponded with her privately which she then sent to her "other" friends. This time it was too much and I banned her, for which I was called a B**ch.

I too, saw the Chip-in and have a copy of it in my FB Photo's, if anyone doubts it. Shame on YOU, to that "other rescue" for the lies and deceit. Shame on you, to the stalkers on this site. If you don't like what we are trying to accomplish here, leave. It's very simple.

Regardless of any of it, this dog needed surgery. A long time, independent rescuer, needed help. We sent out the plea. To have it turned into what it was turned into was petty, improper and insensitive.

Thankfully, I too am a person of independent means and thinking and I sent money to help. Someone sent $500. Not one asked for a receipt for their taxes. We only wanted to help and that is the point. There will be no more of that nonsense on this site.

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Gunn on November 12, 2010 at 6:02pm

Wow - I couldn't have said it better myself. It actually never occurred to me that all of that "tax-decutible" discussion was heaping more stress on me - and eating up my time needed elsewhere - at a time when I needed it the least. Wonder if they thought about that? All the time I spent responding to that garbage - and that is what it was - should have been spent with the dogs - with Grant, most specifically - not trying to appease people who probably have never - and will never - understand what being a solo rescuer is like. And they probably will never know the vicious, vile, hateful crap I have been dealing with from the last rescue I attempted to team up with to help Doodles in need. Really, it's shameful. Foul language, threats, harrassing phone calls and emails - all foolishness that only hampers my efforts to help all of the homeless dogs in Arkansas. These people will also probably never know - or appreciate - that I started a political action committee here in Arkansas a few years ago that opened the lines of communication amongst law-makers to FINALLY pass a felony level animal cruelty law - after 25 years of trying. I am not taking credit for it, by any means - I detest people who toot their own horns and are publicity-seekers, as seems to be the motivating factor for a lot of "national non-profits" out there. And all this 501(c)3 discussion I am seeing all over the place lately, both here and on others' Facebook pages....I don't get that at all - WHO CARES?!?! A 501(c)3 status is not a magic bullet that makes you a super-rescue - it has absolutely no impact on your ethics, morals, compassion, values, whatsoever. Having 501(c)3 status does not make you anything special or make you honest and respectable. If anything, it may indicate that you hope to "make" enough money at "rescue" that you will need tax deductions, yourself! Ever think about that? I myself don't want to get that big - or profitable - or visible. I just want to be left alone to do what I do best - rescue dogs and help people help their animals.
I'd better stop now - this is giving me a headache. That's what I get for spouting off, huh?

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Gunn on November 12, 2010 at 6:10pm

One last thing I have to share, and I am sure this is going to unleash the demons - but I want you all to know that, in addition to all the personal vengence Lynne and I have endured at the hands of that "National non-profit 501(c)3 rescue"......this person started calling my VET repeatedly, harrassing them, claiming I had committed credit card fraud, theft, etc....and saying that HSUS was "watching" me. And yet they still had enough faith in me and respect for my work that they agreed to do Grant's surgery without advance payment - and yes, I already owed them $1800.00 - so in my book, that makes them heroes.
And I haven't seen HSUS lurking around here - wish they were, I could use some help picking up poop! I worked very closely with them on the felony animal cruelty law, and feel confident they know exactly who I am and what I am about.

AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on November 12, 2010 at 6:13pm

Not to worry anymore, Eliz. That talk will never be allowed here, again. Let them take it elsewhere. We try to save as many as we can. We spend our own money, and, sorry my friend, we will never get rich doing this. (Like you didn't know that already). LOL

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Gunn on November 12, 2010 at 6:30pm

Hint, hint.....check out my blog for a chance to win a prize!!!!

Permalink Reply by Sue & the Crew on November 12, 2010 at 6:46pm

I'm not trying to add fuel to the fire, but I want to "ditto" what Dr. Judy said about the donations for non-profit. I too was disappointed that the discussion took that turn. I had a hard time understanding why it was more important to get a tax deduction than to donate from the heart directly to a vet to help with the care of a sick animal. I also have a hard time understanding why some people think 501c status = legitimacy or honesty. Seems to me that there have been lots of instances where people running "non-profit" organizations have been deceitful. People should really be doing much more homework on an organization that just checking if they are 501c or not.

Rest peacefully, Grant.

AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on November 12, 2010 at 7:04pm

Thank you, Sue. You are so right on the mark. I was so sad this discussion turned in that direction and they should all be ashamed of themselves.

And with that note, I am going to close this discussion. Let it serve as warning that we will not tolerate that drama any longer.

Grant will rest in peace and play to his hearts content waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge.

AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on November 12, 2010 at 7:27pm

I have started a Rainbow Bridge Memorial Page in Grant's Honor if anyone would like to leave a Memorial Message.