Just a case of extreme neglect

Penelope came from a VERY unfortunate situation. The conditions in the yard were filthy. No one was taking care of her AT ALL...not even just a little bit!! She, quite obviously, was NEVER being fed.


She was DYING!!







AND she had puppies!

She really put our USED DOGS motto to the test.

Rescue efficiently, not emotionally.

Getting really angry, rude and sad would not have done much for Penelope. SO, we just changed her life in the most immediate way we could.

We focused on WHAT could be done for her, HOW it could be done for her and the very important part about HOW WE COULD MAKE IT AFFORDABLE!

We did not waste time on who to blame. Although of course people should be held accountable, holding this person accountable would NOT have helped Penelope!! The laws are a little weak and take a really long time to pursue. The property where Penelope and her puppies were, has already had ALL their dogs removed by authorities SEVERAL times!!! So to me, that is another issue that needs to be dealt with, but not at the expense of Penelope. Perhaps when I have a minute, I will look into what the actual laws are for habitual offenders, if ,in fact, there are any.

This was "JUST" a case of extreme neglect. I think time prosecuting is better spent on bigger cases of abuse. Although, of course for Penelope, this case is as important as a case can be. That's why we didn't want her to be "evidence". We wanted to make her life better! And it is.

She is no longer the skeleton of a dog that she was, in the filthy yard she was stuck in. Her body is no longer riddled with necrotic tissue.

She is a happy dog. She enjoys her days. She loves visitors. She is almost done with her pet meds. USED DOGS is getting her stronger everyday so that she can be treated for heartworms. She WILL find a home.

BUT, WE MUST GET HER BILL PAID!!!

In order to be able to rescue another dog on another day, we CAN'T owe our vets. USED DOGS appreciates our vets SO MUCH. One way we show our appreciation, is by paying them in a timely manner.

Our vet did all of this for Penelope for an incredible rate! Easily $1000.00 less than is should have cost. The whole veterinary team at Algiers Animal Hospital really gave of themselves for this girl!! Quote from the vet "Penelope is an awesome dog!"

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE contribute to the cost of her care if you can!

PLEASE consider making a donation to her care. You can donate on thru PayPal on our facebook page. Or you can donate directly to the vet. If you would like to donate directly to the vet call me at 504-442-3647. Or call Algiers Animal Hospital directly at 504-364-1556. If you do call the Vet, please be considerate and remember that they are a very busy practice. All donation are very much appreciated, but it would be best if the smaller ones were mailed to us or sent thru PayPal. You can also mail a donation to: USED DOGS PO Box 741163, New Orleans, LA 70174

THANK YOU!

Update on the Family of RED DOGS that taught me a great lesson

ELLA was just adopted. This is her lovely new family. She has moved to Connecticut. And not a moment too soon. Hurricane season has just started and it is record-breaking BOILING HOT today here in New Orleans.

Remember Ella? She was one of the puppies from the previous post. "TRAPPED: A RAGS TO RICHES LOVE STORY" .

Here is a photo of ELLA on her first day here:

I personally learned so much from these three little red dogs.

Because they had no real contact with humans before we trapped them, we knew that it would be a bit of a challenge to get them comfortable with people. Having raised and prepared dozens of litters of puppies for adoption, I figured that when I started seeing certain signs, things were going to be A-OK.

And as I had kind of predicted and hoped for, they began to show those signs. They went from not even wanting to make eye contact with anyone to running up to greet me and see whether I had brought treats when visiting their kennel.

However these little guys fooled me. Their mix of breeds probably played a significant role. Being a mix of Chow and Akita, they were only like this when completely in their comfort zone around other dogs. I found this out when I brought one into my home to see how crate and potty training was going to go. The first one immediately panicked and tried to jump out a second floor window. Once the window was closed she continued to try, hitting the glass.

The second one growled at me.

My heart sank. I was going to have problems. Finding adoptive homes for puppies that growl and try to jump out windows is not an easy task. perhaps not even a prudent one. I called the person who had adopted their brother many weeks ago. To my relief, things were going well. Django had bonded well with her.

We had to redefine their comfort zone and fast! A new routine was devised and with patience and consistency, they began adjusting really well. And now Ella is adopted and Miles is in a great foster home!

TRAPPED A rags to Riches LOve Story

USED DOGS has a whole litter of red-haired, fluffy residents to introduce to you …

We got them just in time. They were very timid at first, hiding their heads and looking away. But they have made steady progress and now come running up to us when they see us coming. They are ready for homes of their own. And MOM is just super! We named her Nina ; she is not feral at all. She licked our hands from inside the trap! She prefers affection to food! When she wags her tail, (which is whenever you call her name) her tail vibrates and her ears wiggle along with it! It is SO CUTE ! ! She is a little ragged, but she is (gasp) HEARTWORM NEGATIVE!!!!

Here's the story of how this little family was rescued:

For about a year we had seen and heard about a potentially feral dog roaming the streets in our neighborhood. USED DOGS decided to step in when we heard that the large field where she made her home, was being prepped for construction. It could have been very dangerous for her to be put in a situation where construction workers would decide her fate. They could scare her, accidentally injure her or call a group that would not have given her a second chance. So USED DOGS decided it was definitely time to catch this girl. USED DOGS has experience in trapping and that was clearly the best option to get a hold of her. The situation was also becoming more urgent because recent sightings of her were telling us that she had just had a litter of puppies and it is very important to get the pups as early as possible to give them the best chance at socialization. USED DOGS was relying on intel from the neighborhood to keep track of her whereabouts. We heard about some puppies under an unoccupied house. We were hoping that these were hers, but when we went to the house there were no puppies in sight. We were reassured that the puppies were absolutely there, so after surveying the location we set the trap the next day and within twenty minutes we had a momma and a pup!

And it was indeed our girl!

Neighbor sources told us that there were definitely more babies under the house. It was going to possibly be much more difficult to get these babies, because they had seen their mom and siblings get caught by the trap and might understandably be a little wary of the trap. Any experienced trapper knows that the key to overcoming this problem is some very enticing bait! So enticing that even though the dogs are scared, they simply just cannot help themselves, but go towards the very fragrant and delicious food. Thanks to some foolproof bait and a little patience we had two more puppies in two hours!

**A word of caution- trapping should not be undertaken by just anyone. We were trained in safe trapping by some really great professional trappers during Katrina.

We are beyond thrilled to tell you that mama dog is not at all feral. Shortly after rescuing her, we got a lick on the hand and then a lick on the nose! She seemed very relieved to be rescued by us, which tells us that at one point she must have had a home.

Her puppies were much more timid, but they are coming around with the help of treats and attention. It did not take long for them to start following visitors up the kennel gate to check out what kind of goodies they had. Unfortunately, one of the male puppies is shyer than the rest, but it is understandable because he has definitely been through the most. When we found him he had several wounds on one leg. Luckily we got him just in time because his infection was on the verge of becoming extremely serious. Every day his injury is getting better and better. It is sad to think about what would have happened to him if we weren’t able to get him the medicine he needed.

We are just thrilled at how successful this whole mission has been and we could not have done it without the help of the neighborhood. The momma and her puppies have a great chance at finding homes because they are comfortable with people and we got them in time to socialize them. Although Mom is petite, these pups are probably going to be around fifty to maybe 60 pounds of fluffy love.







We decided to name them after jazz singers. Momma is Nina, the two males are Miles and Django and the little girl is Ella. We would love to find them each their perfect family match because they deserve it!