Meet Camper - Camper is an approximately four week only Chihuahua puppy we saw recently. He is truly a miracle story. Camper's (temporary) owner is an animal lover named Colette who was driving home from Clewiston when she noticed a suspicious man tossing something into a canal near the side of the road. She pulled her car over and noted that he became nervous and was looking around, obviously whatever it was that he was disposing of was inappropriate. She just had a feeling that something was not quite right.
After observing his behavior for a few minutes she approached him and noted that he had another small object wrapped in a towel and it looked as though he was trying to conceal it behind his back and was preparing to dispose of it as well. Upon closer inspection she noted that it was a tiny puppy, and she thankfully managed to snatch the small bundle from the stranger before he was able to toss the poor puppy into the water.
Aware of the possibility of being injured by the man, she said a few choice words to him but opted to take a photo of his license plate with her cellular phone and got back into her car. Unfortunately the local police informed her that without physically seeing what was first tossed into the water, and by her grabbing this second puppy before any harm was done, it was all hearsay and suspicion and nothing could be done. The bright side was that Camper was saved.
Colette, an animal owner and rescuer who also owns horses, gave Camper a milk substitute and some subcutaneous fluids and immediately made an appointment with us to have him checked out. She noted that he looked to be in bad shape - dirty, itchy, with patchy skin and defecating numerous long worms.
Dr. Horowitz clipped the dry, flaky patches and cleaned Camper with a diluted chlorhexidine solution , which is an antiseptic. We then applied Revolution, as he is too small for Advantage Multi. We also gave Camper some Drontal, an oral deworming tablet to take care of his parasites. Camper is on the road to feeling better, and is even gaining interest in puppy food!
Colette plans to foster Camper until he is large enough and healthy enough for adoption. We cannot begin to express our appreciation for her efforts and hard work in not only saving this puppy but offering him a good home and chance at life until he finds his forever family. It's incredible animal lovers like this that make us truly appreciate what we do here and the calibur of clients we have been blessed with. Thank you Colette for your courageous and selfless behavior! You are one of a kind.
