GSDHelpline

Update
April 2003.

Jake.

Rescued Jake not quite out of the woods yet

By Nick Mays Chief Reporter Our Dogs. 04/04/03.

A German Shepherd rescued from his owners who neglected to have his painful fistula condition operated on is now happy in a new home - but still needs to undergo extensive- and expensive- treatment for the next 3 months
However, thanks to the intervention of GSD Rescue - brought about by Our Dogs - a significant contribution to the dogs treatment has been donated.
'Jake' is a 3 year old German Shepherd Dog who was owned by acquaintances of Deborah Taylor-Berry and her husband. The couple became concerned about Jakes welfare whenever they visited the friends, as the dog appeared to be in discomfort and was bleeding from his anus. Despite Deborahs exhortations, Jakes owners never took him to the vet about his condition - much to Deborahs disgust.
"My husband races pigeons, and knows Jakes original owner who also races along side him" explains Deborah, from Bacup, Lancs. "We used to visit them now and again and first saw Jake as a puppy then on and off throughout his life. But during the last 8-9 months, we became very concerned, as he was bleeding from his back end, and was obviously in pain. We mentioned this to his owners and urged them to take him to the vets, but they never did.
When they acquired Jake, he had an undescended testicle and they were quoted £300 for an operation to deal with it, so they assumed that the bleeding was as a result of the untreated testicle.
I was furious at their neglect of Jake, as he is such an affable, loving dog and they just didn't seem to care that he was in such discomfort.
I was on the verge of contacting RSPCA about it all."
Deborah was speaking to her friend Christine Gengler about Jake's condition, as she knew Christine was a GSD fan and was looking for a new GSD after her previous pet had died. Christine made it clear that she would be prepared to take on Jake and pay for his operation, if his owners would give him up.
"We all discussed it and my husband and I agreed to go halves with Christine on paying for his treatment" continues Deborah. "His owners agreed to rehome him to Christine. To be honest, I think they were glad just to get him off their hands. Christine acquired Jake on 7th March and he first thing she did was take him to the vets to get his condition assessed."
Christines vet found that Jake was badly infected and in pain, suffering from Anal Furunculosis. The perforation of Jakes anal tissue was so severe that there wasn't enough solid flesh to stitch together, although he felt that, as Jake was a young dog, he might respond favorably to a long term course of Cyclodsporan antibiotics which would help the damaged tissue to heal.
"The vet told us that the treatment would take between 12 -16 weeks, with an estimated cost of £2500.00 to £3000.00" says Deborah. "We had been going to have our bathroom refitted, but we decided that Jake was more important, so we gave Christine the £1000.00 we'd saved up for that, and she herself put up a large amount of money. The joke of it all is that Jakes original owners were on state benefit and could have qualified for PDSA treatment for Jake, if only they had bothered to get the poor dog down to the vets. Anyway, as far as we are concerned, they don't figure now. The main thing is to get Jake treated."
Christine describes Jake as a very friendly, cheerful dog. He had been very thin and lethargic when he came to Christine, but he has 'perked up' considerably and plays happily with Christines 2 Yorkshire Terriers.
"He is so much happier" says Deborah, "You can see it in his face. Hopefully the treatment will be successful and he will be back to full health again very soon. Far be it from us to sound like we are begging, but if someone feels they can make a small donation towards the rest of Jakes treatment, we'd be so grateful. The poor dog has been through so much and deserves a happy life. Christine will certainly give him that and we'll do our best for him always."

When Our Dogs learnt of Jakes plight, Chief Reported Nick Mays spoke to his friend Pauline Jackson, who is a member of GSD Helpline, who suggested that the "Rocky Trust Fund", set up to help rescued GSDs in need, might be able to help.
Deborah and Christine spoke to Alyson Lockwood of GSD Helpline on Our Dogs suggestion. The Trustees agreed that Jake was a deserving case and authorised a donation towards his treatment.
Alyson Lockwood told Our Dogs "I have spoken to the Trustees of the Rocky Trust Fund/ GSD Helpline and we are able to donate £250 towards the cost of Jakes treatment. Lets keep our fingers crossed that some of this can help with his care"
Deborah and Christine expressed their grateful thanks to the Rocky Trust Fund for their kind help in this matter.
Meanwhile, Jake, now happy and much healthier, continues his treatment and shows signs of good progress.

Jakes progress will be reported on this site in due course.
GSD Helpline have also offered to help with the cost of neutering Jake as soon as he is fit enough ~ thus resolving the missing testicle problem.

Update on Jake.

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