Cezar: ABUSED and SICK shar pei in NC~UPDATES

[Melissa Henchen, Vice President]

Thank you all so very much for your help, prayers, thoughts, and concerns. This is one of the worst cases of animal cruelty that I have seen in person, much less dealt with. Here are my updates and information for donations.



Thanks to Samantha Hodge, I was able to get a vet to take him in today with out emergency charge fees:
Dr. Thomas A Wallrichs, DVM
Animal Hospital of East Burke
202 Eldred St, NE
Valdese, NC 28690
828-874-8387
***Please let him know how much you appreciate him coming in on a Sunday morning to take care of Cezar!!!!

10/3/09: I brought Cezar to the vet and vet tech at my local animal control who suggested that I get him on antibiotics and pain medications ASAP. I started him on some Keflex and Tramadol. They gave him a rabies vaccine. I brought him home and made him a soft bed which after he did his scratching the blanket to make it comfy just for him he took a nap. I gave him dinner and had to give water by syringe. He slept well.

7:00 AM 10/4/09: I got up this morning to check on Cezar and took him outside where he did urinate and then promptly wanted to go back in. He ate his breakfast but still did not want to drink water so I gave it to him by syringe again. He looked up at me and gave me some kisses. I cried my eyes out. He then went back to his bed an went to sleep.

10:00AM 10/4/09: Got a message from Samatha that she knew a vet that would see him today. I went and got Cezar and he went to his water bowl and drank by himself. Went outside and he urinated again and then off to the vet.

11:15 AM 10/4/09: Just left the vet. The vet says that his wound looks older, but needs to be cleaned and have the rectum evaluated since the wound does encompass the rectum. The vet gave him a pain shot and is going to give him some anesthesia so the wound can be cleaned today. He is going to put in a drain to help the infection drain. He also think that one of Cezar's front legs has been fractured in the past and has healed bad, but does not appear to give him any problems. He says that he has typical Shar Pei eyes with excess skin and does not think the infection is a problem.



12:45 PM 10/4/09: Just got a call from the vet and he says Cezar did wonderful and it up and awake. He said there was a dead piece of bone lodged in the wound (probably part of his tail) that he removed. He did put a few stitches in that area because it was so deep. He said it will need to granulate closed. As for his rectum he said that it was not as bad as we expected and is actually barely involved in the injury, just towards the bottom of the wound. He is keeping him overnight and will call me tomorrow. He thinks that Cezar will be just fine.









Warning: GRAPHIC PICTURES!

Please cross post!

The story:
My sister called me today while I was doing transport for the pregnant pitty. She had went to a yard sale in Kings Mtn, NC. The guy came out side and a dog came out with him that was skin and bones. The guy yelled at the dog and forced it back inside. When the dog turned around my sister noticed the back end of the dog was missing and appeared to have flies and bugs all over it. She called me....

I called animal control who did go there and the man denied it. He said the dog ran away. The officer searched his house and property but no dog was found. After speaking to a neighbor I confirmed the dog has been there for the last year or two and has been roaming the neighborhood with this wound for at least 2 weeks. I decided to take matters into my own hands and went and explained to the gut that I was not with animal control and am an independent rescuer and that if he would sign the dog over to me I would get it taken care of. He said ok and went outside and got the dog out of a drain pipe. He put the dog in my car and signed the papers. I informed animal control of this and he said he would take care of it from there.

The owner, if that is what you call him, claims the dog chewed his tail off and he could not afford to take it to the vet. In my opinion the it looks like an axe was used and chopped his tail off to make a wound for a bait dog.

Now, I have the dog at my house. A vet friend of mine took a look at him for me today and she says that since it has been there for at least 2 weeks that I should not spend the large amounts of money at emergency vet and we started him on antibiotics and pain medications. I am taking him to my vet Monday to see what needs to be done. If anyone is interested in helping with medical bills please let me know and as soon as know what the treatment plan is I will direct you where to send money. The Shar Pei rescue of Virgina has agreed to take the dog if they can find a home for it. Until then he is here at my house. I have named him Cezar!

Thank you so much!!!
Crystal Hartman

[Regina Dickerson]

MY GOD, what was the guy thinking that all of you are stupid??? That dog could not had eaten it's tail and have it cut that smooth. It must had been done by an axe or a similiar tool. And his eyes????? Poor thing. You did the right thing by taking the dog from him and calling the AC. Bless you and I do hope he gets healed up and find a very understanding forever home.

[Melissa Henchen, Vice President]

UPDATE FROM CRYSTAL: Thank you all so much for your continued thoughts, prayers, love, and donations for Cezar. Here is my update on him and new pictures!





10/5/09 Cezar came home from the vet today. The vet said that he has done great and thinks things look very positive for him. He thought it would be a good idea for me to bring him home today and keep him here until his wound heals some more. The vet did put some stitches in the wound. He would hate to see for it to pop back open from too much movement. And I am ok with that, he has been a love. There is still a chance that he may need rectal surgery once the wound starts to heal more, but that will depend on how the scar tissue grows. He has not had a bowel movement since I rescued him on Saturday. The vet tech said that he was such a doll and a very pleasant dog to have around; she even gave him a sponge bath. We came home and walked around outside where he urinated like a good boy and then came in for dinner. He has a great appetite. I got more kisses after his dinner. He is on antibiotics, pain mediations, and antibiotic ointment for his eyes. He will still need eye surgery for his entropion along with his neuter. We will have the results of his heartworm test tomorrow.

As for the x-owner: I contacted animal control today to find out what follow-up has been done. I had to leave a message and so far no one has called me back.

[Melissa Henchen, Vice President]

Cezar Update! 10/7/09
Bad news: The vet just called me and told me that Cezar is heartworm positive. The lab they use does not do the antigen test, so at this point we are unsure the level of infestation. I will let you know more as I find out more. The vet thinks that we should allow his founf to heal some more before starting the treatments.

[Melissa Henchen, Vice President]

Cezar Update!
Thank you everyone for your continued support and donations, God bless you all.

Cezar has started having regular bowl movements and has more "life" to him. It still brings me to tears when he gives me thank you kisses after he finishes eating.

I do apologize if I am unable to personally respond to each individual e-mail. I am receiving more and more e-mails everyday, and with Cezar, the other rescue dogs, my dogs, and my job I am unable to handle the overwhelming number coming in and want to let everyone know it is nothing personal to anyone. Once again, I want to thank everyone for their support, donations, and prayers!

People keep asking about the x-owner. Gaston County Animal Control is investigating. I have to send my report and a hard copy of pictures to them tomorrow. They will be getting the report from the vet.

For any further donations please go to the website for Shar Pei Rescue of Virgina: http://www.sharpeirescueofva.org/index.html. There you will find a paypal link and an address for donations.

[Melissa Henchen, Vice President]

Updates as of 10/8/09
Cezar went to the vet today to have his chest x-rayed for the heart worms. The vet says his heart is NOT enlarge and things look promising. Cezar is getting more life to him as each day progresses and this is very promising. We continue to appreciate your thoughts and prayers!

Cezar 1 week later
Well, not a whole lot of new things have been going on with Mr. Cezar. He continues to improve each and every day. He has such a wonderful and sweet personality and has became lively. When he gets excited his whole backend wiggles. He is on lots of medications including antibiotic, pain pills, eye ointment, iron supplements, and occasional mineral oil to keep his bowel movements softer to be sure he is not in pain with them. He did chew his stitches out on Thursday, but this did not cause any problems.

His complete metabolic panel was good meaning that his kidneys, liver, and electrolytes all are good. He did have some anemia from blood loss which is why he is on the iron supplements.

We are going to by flying him to Virgina Shar pei rescue on Thursday so that he can continue his treatments, get heartworm treatment, neuter, and eye surgery. We already have a potential home for him that I have met and think they are wonderful here in NC. They have 1 3 year old shar pei mix and would like to get a 2nd dog, they have had shar peis for a long time.

So that is it for now!

[Melissa Henchen, Vice President]

Cezar update 10/16/09
Cezar went to the vet yesterday for his follow-up. The vet is very impressed at how well he is healing. His wound is closing in very well. He has gained 5 pounds and you can no longer see all of his bones, just a few ribs now. He has been eating 3 meals per day and has a wonderful appetite. He has became more vocal since he is feeling better and actually will whine when he wants to go outside, eat, or get pet.

He is scheduled to fly to Virgina on Sunday by a Paws N Pilots volunteer. There he will receive the rest of his medical treatment including heartworm treatment and neuter with Bev, who will be fostering him there. Then it looks like he has a potential forever home here in Charlotte, NC if everything works out.

[Melissa Henchen, Vice President]

http://crystallovesdogs.blogspot.com/ She has pictures and a video posted of Mr. Cezar!

[Maureen Cavanaugh]

Cezar looks wonderful. I'm so glad to hear that he is doing well and that he has a forever home waiting for him.

Melissa Henchen, Vice President said:

http://crystallovesdogs.blogspot.com/ She has pictures and a video posted of Mr. Cezar!