MEET HENRY!
Henry came in with Gracie from a horrific hoarding-neglect situation in upstate New York in December 2019. He was filthy and starving, couldn’t use his hind legs, had a rotted mouth and a ruptured eye that was never treated or removed, was missing most of his fur, and his skin was covered in fleas and crusts. Yet, he still gave kisses to the Animal Control Officer that saved him. The town wanted to put them down given their age and condition but the ACO refused and put them up on Facebook. Of course, I had to take them in given The Gingerbread House was already coming to fruition.

Upon arrival, I gave them both a medicated bath and spent HOURS combing the crusts off their skin resulting in a huge grapefruit-sized pile of schmutz that was nauseating to look at. They were so skinny and starving under all of that but luckily they loved to eat! And they were happy to take their pain meds for their arthritis and supplements to build leg strength. Shockingly, they both started using their hind end in just a week or so and can now run around (in spurts of course, given their age)!

Once they put on some weight and their blood work stabilized, they both got much-needed dentals and now have only a few teeth remaining. Henry’s skin has healed nicely, and his gorgeous Peke coat has grown back including his tail! Gracie still struggles with yeasty skin and needs a medicated bath every other week to keep her itch free. Her coat has grown back but due to the baths it’s not as lush as I’m sure it once was when she was young. But that’s ok, she doesn’t mind!

They both arrived with the beginning stages of dementia. I honestly didn’t think they would last longer than a week or two, but here they both are, going strong and looking amazing! Unfortunately, Henry’s dementia is progressing, but he still has nice chunks of time when he knows where he is. These two were sweet and loving from the day they arrived, and they still are. You would never know they are super seniors! How wonderful that they get to spend their remaining time clean, fed, and loved. Putting them down that day they were found would have been tragic. No living thing should go out in that condition.

If you wonder why rescues have stringent adoption policies and why we encourage owners to surrender their pets to a rescue rather than trying to re-home on their own, take a look at Henry and Gracie’s before pictures. The lady they lived with had a house of horrors with many other pets. The house was covered in feces and urine. All of the animals were starving and sick. Yet, she was on Facebook THAT DAY speaking to an owner who wanted to surrender his dog to her. She sounded like an amazing dog owner and she had convinced him to give her the dog! We suspect all of the animals once had loving homes and were unwittingly surrendered to this lady. Sadly, their hell ensued. Wondering how this was uncovered? The lady died in her home and when her Facebook page went silent that day, her friends knew something was wrong so went to her house and called the police. By the way, the friend that let in the police was not at all phased by the condition of the house or animals. So there you have it.

Luckily for Henry and Gracie they are living their best lives ever!