Helping Lil Gus Gus 

When you work in rescue, you don’t sleep very much. 

As empathetic animal lovers, we do our best to save as many as possible. Their sweet little faces haunt our dreams. 

This is the face Cassady woke up to last night. This dog was shot in the head somewhere down south. “Can you help him? The bullet went through his head but he’s going to live if we can get him help. He’s such a sweet boy. I know I ask you all the time, but you’re the only one that says yes time after time.” 

Cassady stared at the photos. She noticed how skinny he was. He’s also covered in fleas, has bad skin, and his teeth are filed down. This dog has been in a living nightmare, unable to escape the pain or pests on his own. 

That’s when Cassady said “Bring me that baby.”

He’s on his way to Stray Rescue now. Our team can’t wait to meet him. 

The transporter sent her this text: “I had no idea what I was going to do with him, but I wasn’t going to leave him there suffering. I knew we’d somehow figure something out. I was screwed until you said ‘I’ll take him.’ I’m literally crying happy tears!”

How can Cassady say yes? There is one answer. It’s because YOU have our backs. When you give, you give us the resources to help as many broken lives as we can. We identify with these hurt souls, we empathize with them, and we want to make it right. They, at the very least, deserve a chance to live so we can show them how important dogs are. How meaningful dogs are to humans. That they really are our best friends, that they make every day better, and that they provide  companionship . 

That’s what makes our situation so unique. We have somehow found so many like-minded people who see the world we see. When you see these pictures, your heart hurts too. But you always jump into action, rally around us, and make this possible. 

We say it all the time. It is often the sweetest, most trusting dogs that get shot because they are the ones that will walk right up to anyone. This dog. And his teef. And the way they get stuck on his lip. Good Morning from Lil Gus Gus has us all wrapped so tight around his paw already. We are smitten. And those eyes, my god. How could anyone ever hurt you? We're so thankful he is safe with us. Dr. Schulz is getting ready to sedate him for a more thorough examination as well as to clean his wound. The x-ray shows a bullet fragment, but she doesn't see a fracture. We will update you as soon as we learn more.

His wound is infected, but because it is only days old and wasn't left to fester, we should be able to get it under control quickly with antibiotics. So he's not out of the woods, but this dog has someone special watching over him because it is amazing that he is alive and stable.

 

 

 

Lil Gus Gus got his first of many medicated baths by our angels, our REP members (Rehabilitation Enrichment Program). Every weekend they come to see who needs a bath and they couldn’t wait to help Lil Gus Gus wash away the dirt and soothe his aching skin (he has sarcoptic mange). He’ll need medicated baths every few days during his healing journey .

He sure seemed to enjoy all the attention they gave him. He was exhausted and curled up for a nap after.

 

*WE COME WITH GOOD NEWS*

Lil Gus Gus is feeling sooooo much better today!

Dr. Schulz says this miracle boy is officially out of the woods and it's all uphill from here! In case you missed it, he came in last week after being shot in the head and surviving: Strayrescue.org/gusgus

(My god those teefs!! This is one very special boy!)

He'll be getting several medicated baths a week and another head wound cleaning. Some yucky stuff is coming out of it, but that's good. He's on plenty of antibiotics for the infection and pain meds. Dr. Schulz is no longer worried about the infection - He made it!!

He's now on the hunt for a foster home because he should be cleared soon from our clinic - probably in the next few days.

He won't be able to be around other dogs for two weeks, and his foster will be giving him his medicated baths and bringing him in for checkups. We'd love to get someone on deck so they can take him the moment he's cleared! It's important to keep spaces open in our clinic for all the poor injured babies coming in every single day. Our shelter is still overfull.

Thank you for your prayers for Lil Gus Gus! He has melted our hearts completely.

If you're interested in fostering, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and fill out: Strayrescue.org/foster