GRRI
volunteers reported the following to us
after they met Sophie (then named
Brittany) and transported her to a
GRRI-NJ foster home in February, 2004:
Brittany is 8 years old, but so ill that
she appears much older.
She's
so extremely obese that her stomach
literally hangs to the ground. She can
barely walk due to overall weakness and
nails that have grown so long they curve
into her paws. She is so tired and so
ungainly that she's unable to get in or
out of a car without being lifted, which
is no easy task given her weight. Her
skin is a mess, with a mixture of red
patches, black patches, bare patches,
scales, scabs and flakes. She has no
hair at all on her hind legs or her tail
and there are portions of her legs that
are so bare, so worn and so gray that
they look like elbows. She has no
undercoat anywhere, and what little hair
she does have is very dry and brittle
and extremely smelly. Her ears are
inflamed, red, raw and gunky. And her
eyes are red, swollen, cloudy and
oozing.
But
despite all the pain, discomfort and
weakness she felt, her sweet gentle
nature shone through. Adults, kids,
cats and dogs were just fine with her.
She also liked woobies. And she even
talked a little and nudged and pawed a
bit when she wanted some love and
attention.
After
settling into GRRI-NJ foster care, she
began her road to recovery.
She
weighed in at a whopping 134 lbs and was
treated for multiple infections and a
thyroid imbalance. She also had a
special medical shampoo for her skin and
needed to be bathed every couple of
days.
Little
by little, she got a bit better every
day,
gaining strength, wagging her tail, and
eating like a champ.
Here
are some photos that show Brittany
resting in her foster home, including
one photo with resident Golden, Sammy.
If you
look closely, you can see trouble
spots on her skin in each of the
photos.
She had them all over her body.
Bath
day.
You
can really see how bad her coat and skin
were in the next two shots.
Brittany
getting dried off by her foster
Dad, Matt Olson, and Foster Coordinator
Dan Keppler (left) and getting a hug
from Matt (right).
Then
in mid March, great news!! Brittany was
adopted!
GRRI-NJ Volunteers Joni & Tom Valerio
had already applied to adopt from us
when Brittany came into our program.
They'd been following her story and
decided she was the dog for them.
Typically, we wouldn't adopt a dog who
was still ill ... but Brittany was
a special case. She'd bonded very
quickly and intently with her
foster Dad, which was of some
concern to us since her home there was
destined to be temporary.
So
with a wonderful couple interested in
adopting her, we decided transitioning
her now, before more attachment set in,
would be better for Brittany.
Tom &
Joni fall for Brittany in person.
Brittany then got a new name -- Sophie
-- to go with her new home.
Sophie's course of treatment continued,
with Joni and Tom providing the daily
care, and with the same vet she'd been
seeing. And as has always been
intended, GRRI-NJ, thanks to the Joann
Smith Memorial Fund, remained
responsible for her vet bills until she
was well.
Sophie
settled in happily at her new home
with Joni, Tom and Nash,
as the following pictures show.
And
she continued to improve, thanks to
excellent vet care and lots of TLC!
By early May, she was
in fine fiddle, and weighed in at a mere
107 lbs!
Today Sophie
continues to live the good life, thanks
to the volunteers of GRRI-NJ who started
her on the road to recovery, her
wonderful adoptive family, and the
following generous contributors,
who donated to the Joann Smith Memorial
Fund in her honor:
Sandi Brown
Carolyn Zagami
Merril Weiss
The Price Family: Matt, Ann, Danny,
Rambo, Scooby, BooBoo, Cocoa, & Daphne
Olivia & Bill Bergner
Albina Pasko
Thank you from all of us at
GRRI-NJ and of course,
from the now healthy and much loved Sophie herself!
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