On my way to work on January 8, 2001, I noticed a dog and two
puppies sitting on the railroad tracks near my home. Being late
for work, I did not stop, but now wish I had. When I got home
from work that evening I returned to the spot where I had seen
them and quickly found mom and one of the puppies on a stack
of railroad ties near the tracks. I returned home and made a
huge pan of food and took water and went back. The mother
would not come near me, barking and growling and protecting
her pups, but the puppy came close enough that I could get a
good look morning so I spent nearly two hours searching
around in the dark and the cold trying to locate the other pup
but had no luck. I finally gave up and went home for the night.
The next morning, as soon as it was light, I went back and what I
found horrified me! I found the mother and the first pup right
where they had been the night before and then started
searching again for the second puppy I had seen. Within a few
minutes I found what I was looking for, the second black puppy
and then another brown puppy. They were huddled together in
a space in the railroad ties. I bent down and called to them and
they slowly came out to me. What I saw literally made me sick.
One of the front legs on the black puppy had no skin or fur left
on it, only raw meat, bone and tendons hanging off. On the
brown puppy's rear leg the toes were literally hanging off and
the skin was peeling away, her tail was also dead and raw three
quarters of the way up. I have never seen anything so awful in
my life! As you can see in the pictures, this is something you
cannot describe with words, you have to see it yourself in order
to understand!
I spent the next half an hour or so convincing the mother to let
me get close enough to grab these babies. I distracted her with
some fresh water and was able to grab them and head for the
car. Mom and the other pup followed and after getting the first
two in the car I was able to grab the third puppy and get him in
the car too. Through this whole scene the mother was running
circles around me - growling and barking - acting like she
wanted to tear my arm off, but never coming close enough to do
it. When I had the pups all situated in the crate I had brought
along I opened the hatch and told mom she could "Change your
attitude and come along or stay here, it is your choice!" I swear
she understood me because her whole demeanor suddenly
changed. She came up to me, sniffed and licked my hand and
then jumped into the back of the car like she had done it a
million times before. I thought I was probably nuts getting into
the car with her the way she had been acting but she sniffed at
the pups in the crate and satisfied herself that they were fine,
then laid down and was instantly asleep.
I phoned ahead to my wonderful vets office, Gladstone Animal
Clinic, and told them what I had found and that I was on my way.
Even with the warning they were shocked at the puppies when I
brought them into the office. They were instantly whisked away
to start receiving the treatment they needed to save thier lives.
The vet taking care of the pups is Dr. Schlager, he is wonderful.
Within a few minutes of my leaving the clinic he telphoned to
give me the diagnosis on the pups. He said they were suffering
from frostbite and were extremely anemic, the black puppy had
been literally chewing his own leg off because of the pain of the
frostbite. He said that the black puppy was the worst case of
frostbite and self-mutilation he had ever seen. He has estimated
that he has been like this for at least two weeks in order for his
leg to get that bad. They were really not in good enough shape
for surgery so in order to give them the best chance at survival
they were given emergency blood transfusions. The mother and
the third black puppy were thankfully in good shape and just
needed some good food and basic veterinary care.
I told him to do whatever they had to do to save the puppies
lives. That I would be responsible for the bill and that we would
raise the money to pay for the surgeries one way or another.
The black puppy had to have his leg amputated all the way up
to and including the shoulder. He came through the surgery
with flying colors. Dr. Schlager even took him home with him so
he could monitor him through the night. His children were so
concerned about the puppy that they all slept on the floor with
him. Amazingly, within four hours of the surgery the puppy was
up and playing with the children! The children named the puppy
Reilly and because of the wonderful care they took of him, he
will be keeping that name!
I am happy to report that despite our first thought that the
brown puppy would have to lose her entire rear leg, they were
able to just amputate toes and she has the pad of the paw still
and is able to walk on it! There is still the possiblity that it won't
heal properly and she may lose it but we are keeping our
fingers crossed that that does not happen! She did, however,
lose more than half of her tail.
These little babies still have a long road to recovery but when
they are ready, and have all been spayed and neutered, all of
them, including mom, will be looking for forever homes. If you
are interested in adopting one of them please fill out the
adoption application you can download below and return to us.
Thanks to the generosity of the many animal lovers out there,
we have now received enough donations to pay the veterinary
bill for the puppies' care!
If you would like to make a donation to our rescue group to help
us rescue more unfortunate dogs like these, donations can be
sent to:
S'Wheat Rescues
PO Box 34463
Kansas City , Mo 64116
A special THANK YOU goes out to all the wonderful
veterinarians and the staff at the Gladstone Animal Clinic, 7027
North Oak, Gladstone, MO, 64118. In addition to the expert
veterinary care they have given the dogs, they have also
donated much of the care that has been given. Without their
help this rescue would not have been possible!!
If you live in the Kansas City area and are looking for a vet you
cannot do any better than the great staff at this clinic!
puppies sitting on the railroad tracks near my home. Being late
for work, I did not stop, but now wish I had. When I got home
from work that evening I returned to the spot where I had seen
them and quickly found mom and one of the puppies on a stack
of railroad ties near the tracks. I returned home and made a
huge pan of food and took water and went back. The mother
would not come near me, barking and growling and protecting
her pups, but the puppy came close enough that I could get a
good look morning so I spent nearly two hours searching
around in the dark and the cold trying to locate the other pup
but had no luck. I finally gave up and went home for the night.
The next morning, as soon as it was light, I went back and what I
found horrified me! I found the mother and the first pup right
where they had been the night before and then started
searching again for the second puppy I had seen. Within a few
minutes I found what I was looking for, the second black puppy
and then another brown puppy. They were huddled together in
a space in the railroad ties. I bent down and called to them and
they slowly came out to me. What I saw literally made me sick.
One of the front legs on the black puppy had no skin or fur left
on it, only raw meat, bone and tendons hanging off. On the
brown puppy's rear leg the toes were literally hanging off and
the skin was peeling away, her tail was also dead and raw three
quarters of the way up. I have never seen anything so awful in
my life! As you can see in the pictures, this is something you
cannot describe with words, you have to see it yourself in order
to understand!
I spent the next half an hour or so convincing the mother to let
me get close enough to grab these babies. I distracted her with
some fresh water and was able to grab them and head for the
car. Mom and the other pup followed and after getting the first
two in the car I was able to grab the third puppy and get him in
the car too. Through this whole scene the mother was running
circles around me - growling and barking - acting like she
wanted to tear my arm off, but never coming close enough to do
it. When I had the pups all situated in the crate I had brought
along I opened the hatch and told mom she could "Change your
attitude and come along or stay here, it is your choice!" I swear
she understood me because her whole demeanor suddenly
changed. She came up to me, sniffed and licked my hand and
then jumped into the back of the car like she had done it a
million times before. I thought I was probably nuts getting into
the car with her the way she had been acting but she sniffed at
the pups in the crate and satisfied herself that they were fine,
then laid down and was instantly asleep.
I phoned ahead to my wonderful vets office, Gladstone Animal
Clinic, and told them what I had found and that I was on my way.
Even with the warning they were shocked at the puppies when I
brought them into the office. They were instantly whisked away
to start receiving the treatment they needed to save thier lives.
The vet taking care of the pups is Dr. Schlager, he is wonderful.
Within a few minutes of my leaving the clinic he telphoned to
give me the diagnosis on the pups. He said they were suffering
from frostbite and were extremely anemic, the black puppy had
been literally chewing his own leg off because of the pain of the
frostbite. He said that the black puppy was the worst case of
frostbite and self-mutilation he had ever seen. He has estimated
that he has been like this for at least two weeks in order for his
leg to get that bad. They were really not in good enough shape
for surgery so in order to give them the best chance at survival
they were given emergency blood transfusions. The mother and
the third black puppy were thankfully in good shape and just
needed some good food and basic veterinary care.
I told him to do whatever they had to do to save the puppies
lives. That I would be responsible for the bill and that we would
raise the money to pay for the surgeries one way or another.
The black puppy had to have his leg amputated all the way up
to and including the shoulder. He came through the surgery
with flying colors. Dr. Schlager even took him home with him so
he could monitor him through the night. His children were so
concerned about the puppy that they all slept on the floor with
him. Amazingly, within four hours of the surgery the puppy was
up and playing with the children! The children named the puppy
Reilly and because of the wonderful care they took of him, he
will be keeping that name!
I am happy to report that despite our first thought that the
brown puppy would have to lose her entire rear leg, they were
able to just amputate toes and she has the pad of the paw still
and is able to walk on it! There is still the possiblity that it won't
heal properly and she may lose it but we are keeping our
fingers crossed that that does not happen! She did, however,
lose more than half of her tail.
These little babies still have a long road to recovery but when
they are ready, and have all been spayed and neutered, all of
them, including mom, will be looking for forever homes. If you
are interested in adopting one of them please fill out the
adoption application you can download below and return to us.
Thanks to the generosity of the many animal lovers out there,
we have now received enough donations to pay the veterinary
bill for the puppies' care!
If you would like to make a donation to our rescue group to help
us rescue more unfortunate dogs like these, donations can be
sent to:
S'Wheat Rescues
PO Box 34463
Kansas City , Mo 64116
A special THANK YOU goes out to all the wonderful
veterinarians and the staff at the Gladstone Animal Clinic, 7027
North Oak, Gladstone, MO, 64118. In addition to the expert
veterinary care they have given the dogs, they have also
donated much of the care that has been given. Without their
help this rescue would not have been possible!!
If you live in the Kansas City area and are looking for a vet you
cannot do any better than the great staff at this clinic!
| The "Frozen Puppies" Story |
| Pics of Pup #1 "Reilly" - before, during and after surgery |
| Pics of Pup #2 "Crystal" - during surgery |
| (L to R) Rocky, Crystal and Reilly - soon after arriving at the clinic |
| Last, but not least, the puppies wonderful mother - we have named her "Amber". She took wonderful care of them under horrible circumstances! |
Send us Email!!
| Please Sign!! |
| Norm, owned by Dr. Cliff Miller, giving the blood needed for the puppies emergency transfusions. |
| Reilly's Guardian Angels On his first night after surgery, Reilly was watched over by Dr. Schlager's children. They even slept with him to watch him through the night - thanks kids!!!! |
Happy Endings - Updated Feb. 11, 2001 Click Here to View |