The following article is from the Waterbury Republican - American
Donations needed for this Daisy
Rescued dog has painful medical condition
BY CARRIE MACMILLAN | REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Jim Shannon, Republican-American
Even dogs have "female problems."
And
in the case of a sweet-faced pit-bull mix named Daisy, this is a
particularly delicate one. Daisy, who is about 2 and was found tied to
a fence in Bridgeport and brought to the
Rose Hope Animal Shelter in
Waterbury last month, has vaginal hyperplasia. Her vaginal tissue is
swollen and has protruded through the opening of her vulva. The
condition is an exaggerated response to estrogen and usually occurs in
young, non-spayed dogs either just before or after going through heat.
When
she was taken in by volunteers at
Rose Hope, a nonprofit, no-kill
shelter, Daisy was immediately spayed. Sometimes, that procedure solves
the problem. For Daisy, the swelling lessened, but the condition
remained. Dr. George Nashe, owner of Sherman Hill Animal Hospital in
Woodbury, examined Daisy earlier this week. He said he would do the
surgery, which normally costs about $1,000, for $400 to $600, depending
on possible complications.
Despite the discount, coming up with
the funds for Daisy's operation is a challenge for
Rose Hope. Like
other animal rescue organizations locally and nationally, it has been
inundated with pets as the poor economy forces owners to abandon them
for cost reasons or because they are downsizing from a home to an
apartment where dogs and cats are not allowed.
"Plus, donations
just aren't coming in like they used to," said Lorraine Arcovio, a
volunteer with Rose Hope, which runs an adoption center out of PetSmart
in Waterbury. "We are spending $2,000 a week on vet bills and this one
alone is quite a bit."
