New Life for Nani

The opening sentences of our mission statement are:
"Crossroads Dog Rescue specializes in the rescue and placement of abused, unwanted and abandoned companion dogs. We never discriminate on the basis of health, age or breed."  
Today's rescue pull, I believe, epitomizes our goal to not discriminate on the basis of health.  While I am fairly new in rescue (about three years), many others I spoke with said they had never seen a case this bad.
Meet Nani.

This was the first picture I saw of her when she was posted on Facebook.  Nani (meaning "beauty" in Hawaiian), was a stray brought into the shelter. She is only about 8 months old. My heart sunk, tears came to my eyes, and I immediately shared.  But that was not enough for me.  I had to do more. I shared her over to the rescue page and begged (I don't like to beg, but Nani was worth it!) for our supporters to help foster a couple other dogs in our rescue.  My heart NEEDED to help her.

As is always the case, our amazing supporters stepped up within minutes! So I emailed the shelter and said I would take her.  While I did have a moment of extreme anger - WHO DOES THIS? or rather does NOT do anything for a dog that is suffering? - I quickly moved past that to thinking, "how quickly can I get to her to start her on the path of healing, toys, hugs, and a new life?"

When I arrived at the shelter, the coordinator took me back. As I looked in her kennel, she wagged her tail! We carried her to the car and I put her in the kennel with quite a few towels. I looked down at my sweatshirt and I was covered in scale-like dandruff and had drops of blood on me. Again a moment of - WHO DOES THIS?  Moving on...  While driving home we had to have the windows partially open. The smell... there are no words to describe the smell.

When we got home, she stood up and wanted out!  I put a loose lead on her, but she was so excited to be free that I had to hold on tight.  We went for a short walk and she had to potty!  Then I took the following pictures:

Looking back at these pictures bring tears to my eyes. No living thing should have to live like this. She kept shaking and trying to itch her face, which is already torn and cracked.  Every move of her face and blood and puss oozes out.  Her left eye is almost swollen closed with green puss oozing out. 

I took her in to get her settled in my master bathroom. The smell... oh. my. goodness.  Nothing can prepare someone for the smell of mange.  Then I made her some boiled chicken and rice, mixed in her antibiotics and pain meds, and she snarfed it down! Well, at least she is eating well. I walked her again and then came in to get a treat - YOUCH!  She likes treats - watch your hand if you have one around her! :-D

Upon putting her in her kennel for the night, she was shivering. We put a t-shirt on her and gave her more towels to stay warm.  I will go buy some fleece tomorrow for her to sleep on, as that is easily washable too.  Here are some pictures I took before saying good night:

Nani, our beautiful girl, has an amazing future ahead of her. Today is her first day of a new life. Tomorrow we see our vet and get her on her way to being the healthy, happy puppy she should be.  It will be a long journey, but so worth it.

If you'd like to make a donation to Crossroads Dog Rescue for Nani's care:

You can also contact us at crossroadsdogs@gmail.com.