And especially with the wee little ones, we are always concerned about their safety. Most people want a SMALL Chihuahua, having been convinced these 'teacup' Chihuahuas (which is not a breed nor size) is the way to go when they are adopting. Three pound Chihuahuas and children are simply not a good match and we have learned this the hard way - hence why we do not adopt this size into families with toddlers and small children.
E.T. was rescued from the owner by their neighbor after being observing him being abused. When E.T. arrived into our hands, he was highly aggressive and would make a great show of trying to bite... after all, it was his only defense mechanism. He also had a broken tail which crooked to one side and we didn't even want to think how he got that trauma!
Weeks into rehabilitation, E.T. blossomed into a loving little munchkin of a bit over three pounds. Once he realized humans were not going to harm him, but that everything good in life came from humans (especially those yummy treats!), he became a neck warmer, intensely devoted to cuddling and loving up on everyone he came into contact with.
Eventually E.T. went up for adoption at the TLC rescue pet shop. Because of his small size, we would not approve adoption applications from people who had small children in their home - it is just too easy for a child or toddler accidentally fall on one of these little ones, breaking a leg or doing even worse harm. Turned down on Saturday because of this, an adopter came back the next day without her children and put in another application on E.T., leaving out the critical information about have children at home.
The lady seemed nice enough and E.T. was adopted.
We immediately called our vet and rushed E.T. there, where he stayed in intensive care for two days on I.V. fluids and with medical care.
The woman had told us that she "just didn't have time to make sure he ate with her work schedule" and the vet's diagnosis? E.T. had not been given water for at least 2-3 days and at that time, the rest of his body and organs starting shutting down due to dehydration, so of course he stopped wanting to eat. Dehydration also caused the one eye to become ulcerated as his dry lid was dragged over his eye without enough fluid inside the eye sockets.
Once discharged from E.R., TLC volunteers took turns providing round-the-clock care for E.T. A week later, not happy with his progress, E.T. was back at the vet's for more I.V. fluids and injectibles --- in the hope that it would give him enough of a boost to start feeling better --- or at least to be a bit interested in eating again!
Three weeks later, we continue the struggle for E.T. to regain his health. At times, he has to be forced to eat and take fluids... he has bed warmers to help hold in core heat. The vet bills are over $700 already - far exceeding the $200 adoption donation the rescue received.
Do we give up? No... not as long as E.T. is willing to live, we do not give up. Having gone from over 3 pounds to 2 pounds, 2 ounces in those 10 days while adopted, E.T. struggles to gain back weight, ounce by ounce, so we have a long road ahead of us here.
E.T.'s story is highly demonstrative of why rescues ask as many questions as we do... Why we turn down some folks when they insist on a particular dog... Why the volunteers work so very hard at this passion of ours... Why these kinds of incidences are so demoralizing to our volunteers (and deadly to our rescues)...
Documented in the hopes it causes at least one person to better understand what we do and why..........
Linda
