Thanks everyone for your support!
I'm really torn...I'm not sure what's going to happen, but when I find out, I'll post an update.

wow her husband doesn't sound like a very pleasant person, hope you can work something out with them. Poor Sully

I agree 100% with Kristina and echo her sentiments exactly. I wouldn't worry so much about the cost of the shots at this point (it still bites, I know). I'd be really worried about Sully's life if he goes back to them, not because of her but her husband. I feel bad for Sully, you and Sully's "mom". This doesn't put any of you in a good position.

I'd be offering to find Sully a new home (whether with you or someone else) and leave it up to them what they'd prefer to do. At least they would have an "out" and wouldn't feel pressured to take him back considering all the issues going on with the move and kids, expenses and so forth. Since you work with rescue Claudia, I'm sure that if Sully was not the right fit for you then you could easily foster him until he found the right home. This has got to be so hard on everyone.

We support you 100% no matter what and hope that everything works out for the best. Sully came into your life for a reason.

well i second everyones thoughts here. when the email first went out for the rescue i had a feeling right away that this poor boy would not be going back home. what family gives up a dog at 10yrs old? did they really not have ANY friends to take him so that they could see him? does this lady even want to come by and see him in the next few months? Claudia i am so happy you have taken him in and taken him to the vet for a check up and to give him these shots. i also know you are torn up about this. ginger is a young girl and you and JD are both active and i think keeping Sully will realy hold you back in activies. i think that if sully was an active 10yr old it would be a different story. i like kates idea for maybe getting a discount surgery for him to mabe give his last few years a pain free one. i know it has only been a few days but i think in the next few weeks we will all know how this will go. we are having good luck finding new homes for the huskies and i think Sully would be great for an older person that just loves huskies but cant keep up with a younger one themselve.

Wow- I'm just coming in on this now... Claudia KUDOS to you and your family.

I don't want to be too repetitive, but I agree that at least emailing the owners and finding out how comfortable they would be if you asked the rescue to help him find a new home. Sully is clearly IN PAIN and their refusal to take care of him for financial or whatever reasons means that he needs a new place to call home. My heart goes out to the wife and to you all. Not a fun situation.

I'm PMing you the rest.

Thanks everyone!
Your support really does mean a lot to me!

I think at this point, I need to talk to the owner and go from there. If she is starting to talk about putting him down, I'll offer her options to re-home him and see what she says or how she receives them.

I'm still waiting to talk to the owner, but there was another email sent to someone else in our rescue that was involved in this.

In the owner's email, it said, '...The way I see it is we have two options (1) we need to take Sully back and probably will put him down since their vet confirmed ACL and we cannot afford the shots/surgery (2) sign papers to put him into adoption....' and '...we didn't do the surgery when we had him...'

So this tells me the owners very well knew about his leg and they simply wasn't honest upfront with us.

oh that just makes me so mad!!!! i wish people would just tell the truth about their pets its not like no one is gonna find out!!!

I PMed this to you as well, but the way I see it, there's 3 options:

1. They pay you the $125 and take him back. In this situation though, they have full control over his fate.
2. They don't pay you, and you help Sully find a permanent home.
or
3. They pay you, and sign him over for adoption (not likely)

Legally, I think that's all you can do and what you can hope for. I just hope his owners do right by their dog this one last time.

We're here for you!

I finally got an email response from the owner:
'.....The reason I was so against putting Sully down was because we only suspected something may be really wrong and in my heart I couldn't do that to him. Now that we have confirmed that he has torn his ACL, I think we may need to take that approach. I do love him dearly and do not want him to be in pain but if he was 2 years old this would be an entirely different story. He is 10 and has had a VERY good life.

We can talk tonight, but the more I think about it...my husband may be right. I dread doing this, but like I said I do not want him in pain and we cannot afford to "keep him comfy". We can figure out the next step tonight.

Thank you again, I know he is in very good hands and I do appreciate everything you have done.....'

UGH!

I think what I may suggest to her is we keep Sully for at least another week or so so I can keep him on Adequan and keep him comfy and while I have him, try to find him a home. Hopefully, she'll let me do that.

You can buy Adequan online as well as syringes and do it yourself for very little money. She sounds very selfish. A torn ACL is no reason to put a dog down. That is a really sorry arse excuse. I really hope someone is able to take him and make his last few years peaceful and comfortable. He deserves that.

Is he still in pain on the meds? Or do the meds make it okay? What did the vet suggest? What are the odds of a dog who is 10 years old making it through surgery.

There is a lot to consider, and I'm sorry that this burden fell to you. I can't say what I would do in this situation, but whatever the answer is, we support you and NONE of this is your fault. Please allow yourself that consolation. If somehow, this means the end of Sully's time on this side of the bridge, please know that it would NOT be your fault or your burden to bear.

You've done a good thing here and that kind of Karma is not forgotten in this world.

Poor Sully. I agree with Kristina - a torn CCL or ACL or whatever shouldn't be a death sentence, no matter how young or old. I am just bewildered by people's attitudes toward their pets... I'm probably on that hippy-dippy-eco-crunchy extreme that would do absolutely everything within my power to make sure my pets have the very best possible life up to when they cross the rainbow bridge on their own terms. Pets are every bit as important as people to me and I totally applaud you for at least researching the options for this lady and hopefully keeping him or finding him a loving home that will give him what he needs in his golden years.

...and no matter what happens, I'll support you (even if it is giving him back to his crappy family to die).

Out for a short jog with JD in the snow today



Hanging out on the dining room floor, after eating their lunch, watching us make our lunch

Thanks for the kind words!

It's hard to tell how Sully would do with surgery at his age. The older they are, the more risks are involved.

He had his first shot of Adequan yesterday, and this morning he looks almost 100% better when getting up, laying down and walking about. At one point, he took several steps with hardly any limp! So I can only hope he is really responding well to the Adequan.

Out on his walk today in the morning and mid-day, he seemed so much more comfortable than yesterday's walks. And he still has a lot of spunk!

I'm not sure what I'll do, but if the owner just wants him back so she can move on, then I think I'll have to honor her wishes. After all, as crappy as it sounds, he doen't belong to me...

So glad the Adequan is working!!

If she wants him back, yeah it's IS her dog... But I really hope she doesn't just take him back to put him down. Especially since he's responding to the Adequan.


Not to be the devils advocate but they look adorable walking together LOL :X

cmanding wrote:

I'm not sure what I'll do, but if the owner just wants him back so she can move on, then I think I'll have to honor her wishes. After all, as crappy as it sounds, he doen't belong to me...

Unfortunately, that's the crux of the issue and you're pretty much powerless if they want him back. Life sucks like that.

For me, (if I were his owners) it would come down to the risks involved and how well he was responding to the medication. If he honestly were 100% better and his pain from the injury were no worse than minor arthritis pain with the meds, then I would absolutely try to figure out a way to afford the $125 every 3 weeks (or like Kristina said, buy it myself and learn how to administer it). But I also think it's just as unfair to keep a dog living in pain. The decision to put a dog down is never an easy one, but it doesn't sound like this family has thought too much about Sully's quality of life

I agree with both of you Kristina and Tori...I'll just have to see what she says when we finally talk...

I'm trying so hard not to get too attached...but they do look cute together, huh?

cmanding wrote:

I'm trying so hard not to get too attached...but they do look cute together, huh?

To play devil's advocate, of course they do!! But you have to do what is best for you and your family, and everyone would understand if you couldn't take on Sully permanently. Stick to your gut and wait to hear what the owner says...

Koda wrote:

[To play devil's advocate, of course they do!! But you have to do what is best for you and your family, and everyone would understand if you couldn't take on Sully permanently. Stick to your gut and wait to hear what the owner says...

Thank you Tori!
I really do appreciate your support!

cmanding wrote:

Koda wrote:

[To play devil's advocate, of course they do!! But you have to do what is best for you and your family, and everyone would understand if you couldn't take on Sully permanently. Stick to your gut and wait to hear what the owner says...

Thank you Tori!
I really do appreciate your support!

Of course I try very hard to remain the voice of reason wherever possible!

For the record, he is definitely (from what it seems) one of those dogs that makes me wish I had tons of money to put into rescuing dogs. Because his story is such a sad one, and I wish that I had the money and ability to make his life better. But alas, none of us are miracle workers and we are also bound by law and ethics.

The situation will see itself through, and again, you're doing a good thing... regardless of the outcome. At the very least, you've helped to educate his owners on what a normal person would consider proper veterinary care (ie- take your damn dog to the vet when he's limping instead of happily living in ignorance because "we don't know for sure that he's hurt." UGH...whatever!)

So, no phone call from the owner yet. I know she has to call when her husband isn't around because he will flip out over $125 vet bill to make Sully comfy for the next 3 weeks.

The last email I got from the owner said she sees 2 options for Sully:
1- they take him back and put him to sleep because they cannot afford to keep him comfy with a torn CCL
2- try to adopt him out

It didn't say if she will want me to try to adopt him out....but if that's what she is thinking, if anyone knows someone in Colorado that is willing to take Sully in, please let me know...

In the meantime, Sully continues to look like he's responding well to the Adequan. Last night, he up and down the stairs without issue. He is getting up and laying down much easier and walking with barely a limp. If he's laying down for a while, he'll get up and the first couple of steps are a little tentative, but after that, he's walking almost with no limp...so it appears that the Adequan is working for him.

OH! And he is starting to eat now! I cracked a milkbone in with his kibble and he ate mid-afternoon yesterday and this morning. He also LOVES chicken wrapped apples! (The treat that Ginger drools over when I pull out the package!)

Good to hear! I'm probably the biggest stickler for vet bills but i'd love a $125 one every once in a while!! I always seem to go at least $250+... lol

Hopefully there is someone out there who wouldn't mind adopting an older boy like Sully... about 6 months ago I almost adopted a 12 year old from animal control... Who can sleep at night dumping these old guys!?!

Keeping Sully in our prayers and hoping for a happy ending to all this. Glad to hear that he's responding well to the injection and that he's eating more.