SEQUIM — Gaunt and bony from untold days of dehydration, the modern, black Great Dane nudged his new caretakers along with his snout, probably in search of extra diet to assist restore his now emaciated body.
“You can’t shock the system,” mentioned Barb Brabant, president of Welfare for Animals Guild (WAG), explaining the sluggish technique of rebuilding the physique of the estimated 18-month-old rescue they’ve named Casey.
“But he loves to eat.”
This, regardless of a shattered jaw.
Personnel with the Sequim nonprofit are taking care of the injured canine after responding to a name for assist from Forks Friends of Animals on Feb. 3.
Mel Marshall, supervisor on the WAG Half Way Home Ranch, mentioned the company obtained a name that day that a big canine had been discovered on the facet of the street with a gunshot wound to his head.
“Of course we’ll come and help,” Marshall mentioned.
A West End resident helped get Casey right into a automobile and met WAG representatives, who needed to coax the injured canine from his place, curled up behind the driving force’s seat in a small sedan.
What they discovered, Marshall mentioned, was disturbing: a Great Dane’s dimension needs to be about 140 kilos, whereas this canine was about half that weight, and — with X-rays confirmed by Sequim veterinarian Linda Allen — his jaw was shattered.
“We wanted to make sure the bullet had exited his jaw,” Brabant mentioned; it had. So helpers obtained Casey on an IV.
A few days later, Casey weighed in at simply 73 kilos. WAG officers feed him cans of moist puppy meals softened by water that he eagerly laps up each two non-sleeping hours.
“We’re just happy he doesn’t need a feeding tube,” Brabant mentioned.
The 4 cans of meals aren’t a lot for a Great Dane, she mentioned, however they’re fearful about stunning his system.
Barb Brabant, Welfare For Animals Guild (WAG) president, cuddles with Casey, an estimated 18-month-old Great Dane with extreme accidents, on the WAG Half Way Home Ranch in Sequim. (Michael Dashiell /Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Though the canine has had apparent trauma and desires meals, WAG officers mentioned he’s doing nicely. Casey eats and sleeps nicely, is well-behaved and doesn’t mess his room on the WAG facility.
“He loves the people he’s met; he’s so loving,” Brabant mentioned.
“He was so scared, but he’s very sweet … which I wouldn’t be if I were in his condition.”
WAG is seeking to increase funds to assist Casey get his jaw repaired — a surgical procedure Marshall estimated at about $5,000.
Those in search of to assist out can donate by way of GoFundMe on the WAG web site, wagsequimwa.com.
Disturbing developments
WAG officers mentioned the Olympic Peninsula is experiencing what a lot of communities throughout the nation are reporting: animal shelters are near, at or past capability.
The nonprofit is at capability with 24 rescues, Marshall mentioned.
On high of that, the power has has to schedule animals with three main surgical procedures within the first 5 weeks of 2024.
“Everybody’s in crisis mode,” she mentioned.
Marshall theorized that residents determined to begin breeding dogs through the COVID pandemic, and now households and shelters regionally and throughout the nation are bursting on the seams,
“This is what’s happening with dogs on the Peninsula,” Brabant mentioned.
“This is nationwide,” Brabant mentioned. “But it is our responsibility to take care of the dogs in Clallam County.”
Other WAG dogs who just lately had surgical procedures embrace Spirit, a 5-month-old canine with a damaged pelvis and leg whose surgical procedure cost $8,300, and Theodore, a 3-month-old puppy discovered within the forest with a rear leg damaged in two locations whose surgical procedure cost $7,000; he’s up for adoption now.
Those can donate to a mixed GoFundMe for all three dogs at gofundme.com/f/theodore-had-a-broken-leg.
Brabant and Marshall mentioned it’s heartbreaking that anybody would harm or mistreat Casey or different animals.
“Who does this?” Brabant requested “Who shoots a perfectly good dog?”
“Just ask for help,” Marshall mentioned.
Contact Welfare For Animals Guild at [email protected] or 360-460-6258.
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Michael Dashiell is the editor of the Sequim Gazette of the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which additionally consists of different Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum. Reach him at [email protected].
