I would like to start by thanking you for the opportunity in being considered and the gift you now have offered to help in Misty’s care. She is very special to us and truly she is more than our service dog she is our family. Any time we are in an anxious way she is right there laying on our chest or lap trying to comfort. She is incredible in her way of loving us. And now she needs our help. I write this to explain how our Misty came into our lives. But I have to say this little dog changed our lives much more than we changed hers. She is our little miracle.
Misty is a small {25 lbs.} terrier mix that we recused. When we got her she was a physical and emotional mess. It was obvious she had been sorely abused and was covered in mud, gum and stickers. She was so afraid of any human contact, mainly men. If we reached to gently pet her she would automatically crouch down hard against the ground and pee, frightened to death. It has taken time for her to trust again, even now she can still act timid when some people approach her.
Our oldest daughter, Lisi, was the first one in our family that saw Misty. Lisi is much like my wife who can not stand seeing animals that are suffering. One day while visiting her in-laws she saw Misty running the streets near her in-laws home. Lisi asked her mother-in-law who that little dog’s owner was. She responded “no one” and that Misty had been running the streets for months with two other dogs, one a little Chihuahua. But this day Lisi saw her alone, filthy and scared, and tried to make contact. After a while, talking to her and offering food, Misty finally took that step toward her new life, and came to Lisi.
Lisi brought Misty to our house. This little dog was the most traumatized little girl I’ve ever seen. Our hearts were broken for her. But Misty is a survivor. We put up flyers around that neighborhood, just to see if there was an owner that lost her and had been looking for her all these months. However we were also worried about all this trauma this little dog had already suffered and who was the one that mistreated her. But no one responded. Seeing the shape Misty was in my wife and I decided to take on this beautiful little dog.
She has taken to my wife in a special way and is now a happy member of our family. Misty had been running the streets for months with a couple other small dogs scared of life and now she is laying on her back exposing her belly while my wife loves on her. I call that a miracle.
On a vet visit we were exploring her dental needs and had an x-ray taken. That x-ray showed us she has a wire on her mandible. That wire was an old broken jaw repair that must have happened before she came to us. Then later she had an exploratory x-ray for a hacking cough and serious pain that had no obvious explanation. We discovered she had a piece of wire logged in her neck near her larynx. We were told by the her primary Veterinarian about this metal wire and it was assumed it broke from her mandible repair and has migrated through her neck and logged in her larynx and is now causing her pain and a choke/hack each time she barks. The Vet also said this wire needs to come out. It is in a bad area near large blood supplies.
So we began our search to find a surgeon. That led us to UC Davis small animal hospital. Their exam reached the same conclusion. UC Davis has taken on Misty and the surgery that is so badly needed. They put together a cost breakdown and we found out it was more than we could ever afford. UC Davis took a close look at our situation and Misty’s needs and put together a care fund for our Misty. This pending surgery is set up as we tried to raise the additional funds that would allow us to help her medically. We are considered very low income. I am 70 years old and we live on SS. And it now seems the help Misty needs to get this surgery, to remove this migrating wire in her neck is getting close. We are afraid this wire could hit a major blood supply and it could have a grave outcome.
Even after the UC Davis gift we still had a long way from being able to get this badly needed procedure until now. Until you all from WestieMed accepted Misty under your wing. We are so thankful to you for what you do to help these beautiful little family members. Because of your help surgery has been scheduled for mid-January.
Thank you,
Robert and Lissette Ausmus