Michael is 14 years old - a Chocolate Pointer that we found at a shelter in October of 2004. Unfortunately, due to a variety of issues, this shelter has a terribly high kill rate. Michael was slated to be killed after the mandatory three-day limit for strays. He’d been found on the side of a rural road, obviously injured, possibly hit by a vehicle. While Michael’s body looked and functioned as if damaged, there were no lacerations, no blood and no signs of a recent trauma. When we entered his run at the shelter, he snarled and cowered, rejecting any attempt to examine him, let alone console him. After deciding to put a leash on him to determine if he could walk or not, he immediately responded, indicating he was used to being on a lead. As we watched, it became horrifically obvious that Michael was virtually crippled on his left side as a result of having suffered a huge body blow. It was an old injury; debilitating and painful. The poor dog had been living like this for some time. We immediately filled out an adoption application in the event that his people (hopefully) didn’t claim him. Three days later, the shelter called and we rushed to pick him up. The vet guessed he was around 10 years old, and that his injury had happened quite awhile back, probably seven to eight years, give or take. After several x-rays and orthopedic exams, the vet determined that Mr. Mike was beyond repair since the major hip fracture was so old. At the time of Michael’s injury, whoever he had lived with, had left Michael to “heal” on his own, with no medical or surgical intervention. This is yet another example of obscene neglect that Michael had been forced to suffer all those years. Because these multiple fractures were never treated, it caused various deformities, like the ones we observed the first day we met our handsome dog-to-be. Due to the intensity of the non-stop pain he experienced, Michael overcompensated by using his right side almost exclusively, thereby causing his left side to seriously atrophy. Eight years after his trauma drama, there was nothing we could really do. Rather than put him down, we decided to pursue a course of pain treatment to control the suffering he had bravely (yet crankily) endured all these years. Today, four years later, Michael’s pain is under control with daily medication, lots of affectionate attention and a daily bit of gentle massage. Interestingly, Michael enjoys having his nails trimmed (even though most dogs act as if you’re amputating their toes!). After his puppy pedicures, he’s gleefully thumping his tail on the floor like a jungle drum. Hopefully, Michael will be with us for a long time and as long as he’s comfortable and mobile, he can continue enjoying his life here at the sanctuary. From a heaping spoon of peanut butter (that includes his meds) to sunbathing on a fluffy comforter with kisses planted on top of his head throughout the day, he wants for nothing. That’s the way it should be for all of us but especially for the abused who rely on us to save them.
