Today our Louisiana intake coordinator saw a post from a fellow rescuer about this Mom and her puppies. Yesterday, they were posted online stating "4 pups plus mom throw a number". A LA rescuer couldn't ignore that picture with the cramped family in a crate. She reached out and was told that there were originally 6 but was down to 4. She graciously paid $500 of her own money to get them to safety but when she got there, another puppy had passed.
This morning this family was heading to boarding as the rescue who pulled them didn't have a foster who could take them. Sarah offered to open her home for now, and then after not much conversation with our team, we offered to take this family under us.
We are happy to say that Zora, Etta, Lottie, and Mae are Safe With Us.
The "owner" said that these babies were 3 weeks old. They are not. Their eyes are not open, and they still have their umbilical cords (dried but still attached). So far they seem to be relatively healthy. We think the other 3 passed because they were all in a crate together with Momma and she did not have enough space to hardly move around, nevermind manage 6 babies. We are guessing they are closer to 10 days old.
Zora has been doing her best- she is very nervous- but is attentive when she needs to be. She is feeding them, and caring for them but then goes on her own away from them to rest. Understandably she has been through so much, so we are letting her do what she needs to. She is exhausted. You can see in her face that she is just not sure what is going on. Luckily she has two of the best foster parents out there and we know that she and the babies will be fine.
This is a big undertaking for us. Zora is going to the vet tomorrow because she needs to be evaluated. She is urinating blood and her skin is a mess.
It takes a village to save the voiceless. The original rescue did what they needed to keep them from falling into the wrong hands or worse. Now its our time to take it from here and get them what they need until they can come north and find forever homes.
We weren't exactly prepared for this, but this is why we do what we do. We have to try, we have to do the right thing. And the right thing was bringing them into our rescue.
We appreciate any donation amount. We have a long road ahead of us. We don't know if Zora has more going on than a UTI or if she is heartworm positive. The babies are going to need A LOT of vetting care as well.
Please consider helping this little family.