APRIL 27, 2016 UPDATE: After enjoying several months getting plenty of love in her forever home, Poly passed away tonight.
“She had a good day,” wrote Poly’s “ghostwriter” on her Facebook page. “She had a photo shoot in her new dress and got to spend lots of time getting loved on by Vanessa. … At 10 p.m. she was settling into her fluffy blanket when she had a sudden major heart episode. She stopped breathing… and although we administered CPR for more than 20 minutes, she did not recover.
“She was surrounded by her rescue ladies when she passed… we are very thankful that we were both there.”
Rest in peace, sweet Poly, and much gratitude to those rescue ladies who made the past six months so wonderful for this special girl.
To help other other injured, abused and neglected dogs find loving homes just as Poly did, you can make a donation in her memory to Polysfund.org.
It’s bad enough abandoning a dog in a park, but it’s even more despicable when that dog is blind.
That’s what happened in October to a sweet, 3-year-old Pit Bull mama who had recently had puppies. She was left, wearing a harness, on a bench in a Santa Maria, Calif., park.
A good Samaritan notified the police. The dog, who’d been too terrified to move, was taken to Santa Barbara County Animal Services.
When Jennifer Wales, president and founder of Foreverhome Pet Rescue, saw the Pit Bull’s photo on the shelter’s Facebook page, she immediately got on the phone.
“They told me they needed a rescue commitment,” Wales told ABC News Oct. 30. “I’ve been rescuing dogs for 25 years. She reminded me so much of another dog that changed my life, who was also a blind Pit Bull.”
Wales took the dog, whom she named Poly, and had her checked out by a veterinarian. The diagnosis was not good. In addition to being permanently blind from birth, Poly had congenital heart disease, as well as ringworm and a skin condition resulting in scabs.
Because of Poly’s congenital heart condition, Wales told the Santa Maria Sun in November that anyone who obtained a Pit Bull puppy in the Santa Maria area in the late summer or early fall should have the pup’s heart checked. If the disease is detected within the first few months of a dog’s life, it can be reversible.
Unfortunately, that was not the case for Poly.
To raise money for heart surgery, Wales launched the Poly the Blind Pibble crowdfunding campaign. Her goal of $3,000 was quickly met. The rest of the donations, via the new Poly’s Fund, will be “distributed to small nonprofits that have dogs that need expensive diagnostics with specialists,” Wales told ABC News.
Poly has been placed in a foster home, where she is “thriving,” Wales told ABC News in October. “She’s so sweet and loving.”
Although Poly will never again have to go through the unimaginable terror of being left alone in a strange place, her days in a loving forever home may be numbered.
Wales told ABC News Dec. 3 that due to Poly’s heart condition, her life expectancy is only two months to two years.
Those precious days will be filled with pampering from her foster family.
“Her activities are limited, but there’s lots of loving and hugging and petting,” Wales said.
Poly is also getting used to car rides and socializing with people. “Since she is nervous around new voices, we are trying to at least briefly expose her to more and more people so she can learn to trust again,” Wales told ABC News.
“She is playful and bouncy, not so much with toys as with people. But she can’t get too riled up for more than a couple of minutes or she will start coughing and faint due to her condition.”
You can keep up with Poly’s adventures on her Facebook page, Poly – Blind Pibble.
“I have SO MUCH to be thanking for this year!” Poly “wrote” on Thanksgiving Day. “Fluffy beds, cheeses, rescue ladies, trips to the park, warm sweaters and jackets, lots of new friends, nice heart doctors and eye doctors.”
Here’s hoping this beautiful girl proves her prognosis wrong and goes on to enjoy being loved for many years to come.
To make a donation to Poly’s Fund, click here.
Photos via Facebook