Gabe

Gabe is a very sweet guy who is estimated to be less than three years of age. In September 2005, he was removed from his home by animal control and went into a shelter in North Carolina. WIN volunteer Susan Pippin went to see him and took this big boy home where she and her family fostered him for 2 months. Gabe was heartworm positive, so he had to under-go heartworm treatment while with Susan.

When he was shaved because of being matted, we discovered that he had been shot with “buck shot”. Gabe was not using his right rear leg properly when walking, but we had to wait until the heartworm treatment was complete before doing anything about it. So on November 20th the tearful Pippin Family took Gabe to the airport so that he could fly to Houston, Texas and start the next stage of his medical care.

On November 22nd, Rusty (Gwen’s vet) x-rayed Gabe and diagnosed his problems. The x-rays of Gabe’s pelvis and hips were unbelievable. He had apparently been hit by a car and not received medical treatment. His pelvis had been crushed and his right hip was pushed forward about an inch. He also had fractures at the base of his tail. You could see in the x-rays all the “buck shot” that is still in him. There was nothing that Rusty could do about the pelvis, because it had started healing itself. He cleaned up bone fragments and did a FHO (Femoral Head Osteotomy) on Gabe in hopes of allowing the leg more mobility. Poor Gabe was also neutered and we had his ugly and dangerous “double” dew-claws removed from his rear legs and the dew-claws removed from his front legs. He had the works!!

One would think that after all that “People” have done to Gabe; he would hate “People”! Not so—he is big, sweet, goofy and loving. Gabe will be looking for his “forever” home sometime after December 6th when he gets his stitches removed. Until then he is just hanging out at Gwen & Don’s house and giving big sloppy kisses!

Continued—After being in WIN foster care for 5 months, On February 10th, 2006 Gabe went to his forever home in Dallas, Texas with Lance and Mary Ann Slippen. They are a great home for Gabe and love him as much as all of the WIN volunteers have. He is finally living the good life and sleeping in their bedroom on his very own bed. WIN has never gotten a dog that had been so neglected and abused as Gabe. To recap—he was heartworm positive, had been shot, had been hit by a car but still loves People.

Such a sweet boy—we miss him!!

Don & Gwen (5 girls and Gismo)