I received a phone call Saturday afternoon, Dec 28, 2019. An emergency animal hospital up in Boone, NC left me a voice mail concerning a Great Pyrenees that had been hit by a car and dropped off at their clinic. They were calling around, in hopes of finding a rescue that would take her in. I listened to the voice mail a couple of times, trying to decide what to do. I called Lori Latevola and asked her opinion. I knew, of course, that she would talk me into accepting the rescue into our program. She did, and she offered to make the call to the vet. She talked to them and called me back. i had been hesitant to take on such a serious injury, but the vet told her that she needed a cast and he would ‘work with us’ on the bill to keep the charges down. Estimated treatment plan was $425. We agreed and set a plan into motion.
I’ve been doing Great Pyrenees rescue for about 15 years now, and I quickly realized that all of my previous experiences had provided me with exactly what was needed to make this rescue possible. I had built up a loosely organized network of volunteers, donors, transporter and friends that would ultimately come together to save this sweet dog. While Lori was planning the transport from Boone back to the rescue here in Claremont(which turned out to be an all day excursion) I was gathering information and setting up a Go Fund Me account to help with the vet bills. I looked over the pictures of Daisy, and the X-rays, and determined that this was going to be a much more serious treatment plan. But the donations started to pour in. My friends are AMAZING. The goal of $1000 was met in less than 24 hours. Unfortunately, as Lori was on her way to get Daisy Mae, I was told by the vet in Boone that he looked over the X-rays and decided he wasn’t capable of setting the bone and placing her leg in a cast. He thought it needed surgery. I called around, checked the internet, and referred to past rescues and decided that $3000-6,000 was a more appropriate figure. Donations continued to pour in. Lori brought Daisy Mae back to the rescue that afternoon and I instantly fell in love with her.
Bless her heart, she was so sweet. She didn’t appear to be in any pain, and didn’t seem to have any other injuries.
I had been calling around, hoping to talk to vets about getting her surgery as soon as possible. Time is of the essence when dealing with tibial fractures. Unfortunately, New Years Eve was coming up and most vets that I called (11 in total) wanted to put it off until the next week(Jan 8-11’ish) for her initial consultation. Fate stepped in for Daisy Mae. A dear friend from my Rock-n-Roll past commented on the Facebook post and suggested that I contact Dr David Crouch at the Western Carolina Veterinary Hospital. I’m so thankful that I called him that morning. I filled out and submitted a contact form on his website, sent him x-rays, and his office called me back. They offered to perform the surgery on Tuesday, NEW YEAR’S EVE!!!! Dr Crouch said that he and his staff volunteered to work late that afternoon to perform the surgery on Daisy Mae. While most people were making party plans, they decided to jump in and save her leg. Transport was arranged for the next day and everything went smoothly. the surgery took about an hour, and the bones were perfectly joined back together, insuring the best possible outcome. A steel plate was attached to the bones to hold them in place while they grew back together.
Staff members gave up their plans to meet our transport on New Years Day morning so that we could bring her back to the rescue. I am forever thankful to everyone that helped make this possible