Today marked a milestone for two shelter pups from the St. Tammany Humane Society. Purebred Doberman, Piglet, finally went home with her new family after months of barely holding on to life. Today she was healthy enough and cleared to go home with the Carey family who have patiently been waiting for her!
And for the other shelter pup, a pitbull named Charlie, he along with our dedicated veterinary staff took a chance to save her life, and it paid off!
Piglet, a three year old Doberman, was dropped off at a kill facility both timid and infected with heartworm disease. The St. Tammany Humane Society stepped in to save Piglet from euthanasia and began the long road of heartworm treatment at our facility. Only after one week of undergoing her heartworm treatment Piglet started to develop complications; she became severely anemic. After much consideration, our medical staff decided to perform a blood transfusion using one of our other shelter dogs in hopes of saving her life. The best candidate for the job was a pitbull and shelter neighbor to Piglet named Charlie. “A blood transfusion is not a procedure we normally perform at our facility. It is both costly and risky,” explained Dr. Estelle Felarise, Medical Director of the shelter. “But I was confident in my team and the support of our community.”
Charlie’s story is a bit different. Charlie first came to our shelter as a stray sick and completely hairless. After weeks of treatment and a clear bill of health, Charlie was adopted. After one year in a home, the family could no longer care for him and sadly had to return him back to the shelter. “It’s weird how things work out,” said Susie Kaznowitz, Director of Development for the St. Tammany Humane Society. “It’s almost like Charlie’s return was supposed to happen; like he was meant to save Piglet’s life.”
It was a long struggle for Piglet. Several weeks of teamwork from our veterinary staff and Piglet’s desire to live allowed her to recover. She is finally the dog we always knew she was meant to be. Piglet is healthy, happy and adopted. And that’s all we can really ask for!
While Charlie is happy to see his friend go, he is still looking for a forever home. We ask the public to help rescue Charlie after he so selflessly rescued Piglet. Please share this story with friends and family and together we can find this lovable boy a home! If you would like to support dogs like Charlie and Piglet, please consider donating to the St. Tammany Humane Society. It is only through the community's generosity that we are able to take risks and save dogs like these two.