Washington Archives - i Still Love Dogs

Heartwarming: Washington Woman Adopts Dog Who Shares Her Medical Condition

Sue Blackenship of Newman Lake, Wash., was born with patent ductus arteriosisa (PDA), a heart condition that occurs when a blood vessel that should fully close after birth fails to do so. This allows deoxygenated blood to flow into an area of the heart in which there should only be oxygenated blood. Without corrective surgery, PDA causes early-onset congestive heart failure — which is fatal.

In December, Blackenship read about about Bruno, a young Lab mix at the Spokane Humane Society (SHS) shelter who needed surgery for the same heart condition.

According to the SHS Facebook page, Bruno was originally from San Antonio, Texas, and had been transported from a partner shelter to the humane society in early October.

“Shortly after Bruno’s arrival, our veterinarian found that he has a severe heart murmur,” the SHS wrote. X-rays confirmed he had PDA.

“In that moment, as crazy as it sounds, I just had this feeling that we were meant to be because I had had that same surgery like 60 years ago,” Blankenship told KING 5. She enlisted the help of her family and neighbors to help pay the $4,000 needed for Bruno’s surgery, which he underwent at Washington State University’s Veterinary Hospital.

“I just felt like I had a connection with him,” she said. “I couldn’t forget him, you know what I mean?” She regularly checked the Spokane Humane Society’s Facebook page, hoping for an update on the dog she just couldn’t get out of her mind.

As soon as Bruno had recovered from surgery and was available for adoption, Blankenship went to see him at the shelter.

“He jumped up on the fencing and just made incredible eye contact with me, I mean just like boring into me,” she told KING 5. “I just felt like he was saying, ‘Take me.'”

So that’s exactly what Blankenship did. Bruno, who’s now called (by his last name?) Mars, is very happy in his new forever home.

The new dog mom hopes others will follow her lead and rescue a pet from a shelter.

“You might not think you’re in the right spot for an animal right now, you’re wrong,” she told KING 5. “Everything you give to a dog, they give it back 100 fold.”

Here’s hoping Blankenship and Mars spend many happy years together — and from now on that “PDA” only applies to their public displays of affection.

Photo: Spokane Humane Society/Facebook

After Botched Mercy Killing, Homeless Dog Rises from Grave

Theia, a 1-year-old Pit Bull mix, showed up one day last month at a Washington farm. She was emaciated, battered and covered in dirt, yet still wagging her tail. If dogs could talk, the farmers might not believe the story she told them.

The stray, who was known by almost everyone around Moses Lake, had been hit by a car four days earlier. In a misguided mercy killing, someone hit Theia in the head multiple times with a hammer, then buried her in a shallow grave.

When Sara Mellado of Moses Lake read about Theia’s ordeal on Facebook, she decided to become her foster mom.

Theia was taken to Washington State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital and treated for a dislocated jaw, nasal bone fractures and leg injuries.

The veterinarians believe Theia’s nasal fractures, which make it difficult for her to breathe, were a result of hammer blows to her head.

“I’m assuming that the person who did this meant to put her out of her misery, but I’m still horrified by the carelessness of the act,” Mellado told WSU News.

Theia’s dislocated jaw is healing nicely, but to help her breathing, she will need to have a stent surgically implanted in her nose.

To help defray the cost of the surgery, WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital’s Good Samaritan Fund is contributing $700. More than $1,100 has been raised as of Tuesday morning via the Help Theia gofundme.com page. Mellado notes that the surgery and treatment may cost more than $9,000.

Despite Theia’s injuries, ever since she arrived at WSU, her tail has not stopped wagging. She enjoys giving smooches to everyone she meets.

“Considering everything that she’s been through, she’s incredibly gentle and loving,” Mellado told WSU News. “She’s a true miracle dog and she deserves a good life.”

Photos via WSU News

Blind Beagle and His Seeing-Eye Sister Need Forever Home Together

DEC. 18, 2014 UPDATE: There’s very happy news for this sweet pair — Molly and Buster have been adopted by two women who saw the dogs on KOMO News! “If we had special ordered the perfect home, this would have been it!” NOAH Center posted today in an update on its Facebook page. “The ladies have owned multiple Beagles in their past & own a beautiful farm with acres of fenced yard. Buster and Molly now have a couple of Golden Retriever friends too! This really is the season for miracles!”

After being abandoned at a farm in Washington three months ago, an older male and female Beagle were taken in by the NOAH Center, an animal shelter in Stanwood, Wash.

The two dogs, whom the shelter named Buster and Molly, didn’t seem to pay much attention to the staff. At first the workers figured it was due to their age — they are both about 8 years old — and the stress from being in the shelter.

But then they noticed that Buster frequently walked into walls. Molly would often block him from doing so, and would nudge him through the doggie doors.

“Molly is a seeing-eye dog, so for her brother she helps to make sure he doesn’t get into situations that could be dangerous for him,” Lani Kurtz, the shelter’s adoption director, told KOMO News. She said she believes the dogs may be siblings since they are the same age.

According to the shelter’s website, Buster and Molly are “a couple of goofy and energetic Beagles that have so much love and appreciation for life; a pair of friends we could all learn a lesson from.”

Buster and Molly did get adopted out together after they were brought to the shelter, but unfortunately it didn’t work out. Their new pet parent’s home had an unfenced yard and no doggie doors — two important items this pair can’t go without.

So Buster and Molly are once again available, but only as a couple.

“They have to go together. Buster needs Molly,” Kurtz told KOMO News. “We will keep them until we find that perfect place for them.”

The adoption fee for both is $200. There is a $50 discount on Mondays, as well as discounts for seniors.

“They are no longer spring chickens, and don’t have a fondness for children, so a home without kids would be best,” notes the shelter’s website.

For more information, visit the NOAH Center website, call 360-629-7055 or email info@thenoahcenter.org.

Photo via the NOAH Center