We didn’t succeed in “enchanting” our little apostles with their names and their wonderful dozen has now shrunk to a group of 9. Many people felt annoyed by the way we told you about the Apostle’s arrival, we were accused of being angry and exaggerating, even lazy – there is so much space that we should have taken at least 100 puppies – with no water, no quarantine, no clinic…
Luckily, many people decided to help. Thus our colorful bunch got the best possible care from veterinarians who know everything there is to know about parvovirosis. Sadly, despite the great effort, the optimal care and medication, these are the results of the “large-scale rescue” in which our Farm, still under construction and totally unsuitable for treatment of infectious disease, received 12 puppies from at least 4 different litters one of which carrying the deadly parvo virus.
The sad account of this “rescue” experiment:
- The three apostles who came already ill were successfully treated and survived.
- 2 little apostles have already gone home, healthy, adopted and very happy.
- 1 of the babies managed to skip the infection and is already vaccinated once, happy and healthy.
- The other 6 all got sick.
- The 3 puppies from the smallest and most parasite-infested litter have passed.
- The other 3 are still treated, one in a very critical condition, another eating and showing signs of recovery.
Puppies and kittens are the most risky and difficult patients. It is no casual fact that out of 5 shelters in this city, ours was the only one admitting dogs under 4 months of age. To raise a physically and mentally healthy litter takes a long time, a lot of money, and most of all – a place where you can keep them totally separated from the outside world, full of potential infections.
Currently and until we have a place for quarantine, we cannot admit babies – we ask every person who wants to help a pup or kitten under 4 months of age to be so kind and agree to keep them until we have managed to vaccinate them and it is no longer a risk for them to come to the Farm.
Please consider how our children get ill when they start going to the kindergarten – and those are healthy, well-fed, well-cared for and vaccinated children. Now, imagine what it is for a puppy off the street which has lived a difficult life to come into an environment full of potential infections (other animals) and calculate the risk – it is huge. The costs to raise a single puppy even a healthy one, are considerable, and when infectious illness kicks in – the costs skyrocket. This money could have been used for the saving of many lives, the neutering of many female dogs…
