Over the next five days, the rescue spent $1050 to have her eyes evaluated and all her testing reviewed by THREE ophthalmologists. All three came back with the same opinion, mild corneal scarring on both eyes. What did this mean for Clara? As a puppy, it meant one of two things: it was a degenerative disease that she inherited and her prognosis would eventually lead to blindness or it meant that she suffered intense trauma of some kind and her eyes had the potential of healing or staying the same without the scarring progressing. Only time would tell which path Clara's young life would be traveling.
Clara's world from the position of adopt-ability suddenly change. Dogs with special needs take a lot longer to find the right home, and now Clara was in search of a home that would be tolerant of her ongoing medical needs and her unknown future when it came to sight. We still had to get her east to our rescue too. The rescue spent $200 with our paid foster and another $375 for transport east, but the good news is Clara found an east coast long term foster! Her new foster mama had taken care of two completely blind dogs before and reassured us she would watch over Clara, no matter how significant her needs would be now or in the future if she didn't place in a home.
Clara arrived at her new foster home in late summer. They adore her and she adores them. We recently followed up with the foster's vet to revisit any changes to Clara's eyes (for another $80). Guess what? Our sweet and loving giant has one eye that completely healed and the other eye has NOT progressed any further. It looks like this might have been a case of abuse after all. I never thought I'd be happy to label a dog's misfortune from abuse as a fortunate choice, but in her case - it is. The damage to Clara's eyes will not progress. Our guess is she was beaten in the head as a puppy. Whatever happened to her, she doesn't allow it to deter her from her happiness factor. Clara is one happy dog.
Please consider donating to Clara's medical bills so our small rescue can participate in helping other Claras out there racing for a plan against the clock. A chance at life and family - a chance at a real dog's happy life, the way it is suppose to be with lots of love, patience, tolerance, acceptance and never hitting.
The Guardian Animal Foundation is home-based in Greenville, NC with a satellite location in Virginia Beach, VA. It was started by two healthcare professionals wanting to make a difference with the abundance of abused and neglected animals within the state of North Carolina. In 2018, The Guardian Animal Foundation hit their record high number of animal rescues, reaching 144 in the aftermath of hurricane Florence. The rescue is 100% volunteer-based and 100% of all donations go to helping animals in need.
Back in 2018, the North Carolina team also enlisted the help of an animal networker from Virginia Beach, VA. This person was tasked with coordinating a long distance coast-to-coast dog rescue to assist with a special request from one of their long time, repeat adopters in order to save a California dog. The success of this particular rescue mission and happy placement of this death row dog led to the establishment of the Virginia Beach satellite location for The Guardian Animal Foundation. The Virginia Beach location handles rescue needs from all over the nation in addition to dogs surrendered within our own community to help keep animals out of the shelter system. So far in 2019, the Virginia Beach satellite location has saved 30 dogs. ' >
Mid-summer we received a call from a shelter coordinator in southern California about a beautiful puppy around a year old. A sweet girl that was already pushing over 80 lbs. and ran along the fence in the play yard wanting to do what all puppies want to do - play. Clara is thought to be a Great Dane and German Shepherd mix. She was a shelter favorite and had spent the last few months surviving by staying off the euth list at this high kill shelter. She made it this far because everyone fell in love with her puppy antics, but her time had come to an end and no potential adopter in this rural shelter was going to save her. The coordinator cried on the phone that maybe he should have networked her harder in the beginning, but he just knew someone would have scooped up this beautiful giant by now.
We did what all respectable rescues do in the moment when a personal plea rings out - we said yes. Clara was saved and transported to a paid foster for the next three weeks until long distant transport could be arranged. Unfortunately, paid fosters are becoming more commonplace in markets where fosters are impossible to find. Within two days of Clara's rescue, the foster mama caught a sparkle from her eyes in the sunlight. It was a sparkle she'd see before, and not the sparkle you want to see in your new puppy's eyes- it was blue. For Clara, it meant the onset of blindness but to what degree.
Over the next five days, the rescue spent $1050 to have her eyes evaluated and all her testing reviewed by THREE ophthalmologists. All three came back with the same opinion, mild corneal scarring on both eyes. What did this mean for Clara? As a puppy, it meant one of two things: it was a degenerative disease that she inherited and her prognosis would eventually lead to blindness or it meant that she suffered intense trauma of some kind and her eyes had the potential of healing or staying the same without the scarring progressing. Only time would tell which path Clara's young life would be traveling.
Clara's world from the position of adopt-ability suddenly change. Dogs with special needs take a lot longer to find the right home, and now Clara was in search of a home that would be tolerant of her ongoing medical needs and her unknown future when it came to sight. We still had to get her east to our rescue too. The rescue spent $200 with our paid foster and another $375 for transport east, but the good news is Clara found an east coast long term foster! Her new foster mama had taken care of two completely blind dogs before and reassured us she would watch over Clara, no matter how significant her needs would be now or in the future if she didn't place in a home.
Clara arrived at her new foster home in late summer. They adore her and she adores them. We recently followed up with the foster's vet to revisit any changes to Clara's eyes (for another $80). Guess what? Our sweet and loving giant has one eye that completely healed and the other eye has NOT progressed any further. It looks like this might have been a case of abuse after all. I never thought I'd be happy to label a dog's misfortune from abuse as a fortunate choice, but in her case - it is. The damage to Clara's eyes will not progress. Our guess is she was beaten in the head as a puppy. Whatever happened to her, she doesn't allow it to deter her from her happiness factor. Clara is one happy dog.
Please consider donating to Clara's medical bills so our small rescue can participate in helping other Claras out there racing for a plan against the clock. A chance at life and family - a chance at a real dog's happy life, the way it is suppose to be with lots of love, patience, tolerance, acceptance and never hitting.
The Guardian Animal Foundation is home-based in Greenville, NC with a satellite location in Virginia Beach, VA. It was started by two healthcare professionals wanting to make a difference with the abundance of abused and neglected animals within the state of North Carolina. In 2018, The Guardian Animal Foundation hit their record high number of animal rescues, reaching 144 in the aftermath of hurricane Florence. The rescue is 100% volunteer-based and 100% of all donations go to helping animals in need.
Back in 2018, the North Carolina team also enlisted the help of an animal networker from Virginia Beach, VA. This person was tasked with coordinating a long distance coast-to-coast dog rescue to assist with a special request from one of their long time, repeat adopters in order to save a California dog. The success of this particular rescue mission and happy placement of this death row dog led to the establishment of the Virginia Beach satellite location for The Guardian Animal Foundation. The Virginia Beach location handles rescue needs from all over the nation in addition to dogs surrendered within our own community to help keep animals out of the shelter system. So far in 2019, the Virginia Beach satellite location has saved 30 dogs.