At Miri’s Haven Senior Dog Rescue, this is the sad truth of what happens when someone looks away. Quail arrived on Tuesday, and when found she had not been wandering the area with curiosity as if she had just absentmindedly walked away from her home; not at all. Quail had been waiting; the kind of waiting old dogs do when they wait for the person they have loved is coming back for them any minute.
It was cold. There was snow and ice on the ground, and even though her tiny body had been failing, she waited. Sadly, her owner likely didn’t care she was freezing, starving or even near death.
This is the cost of looking away.
Fifteen-year-old Quail arrived in a carrier, and when lifted out, the odor of infection permeated her surroundings. No doubt she had been suffering for a long time.
This is how she arrived:
Her lips are swollen beyond normal shape. Her nose has changed color. Her mouth is pulled into a distortion that only happens when disease is allowed to grow unchecked. Pain has been living inside Quail for months, maybe longer, and she endured it silently.
As the staff cut away her matted fur, her fragile skin peeled away. Her nails had grown so long, they wrapped around her fur. Underneath the swelling of her face, the tissue had thickened causing her mouth and nose to stretch. Still, no matter how thorough her bath, the smell of an underlying infection persisted.
Quail was rushed to the organization’s partner veterinary hospital where the tiny dog trusted everyone who reached out to help. Quail just wanted to believe. She is currently on antibiotics to treat her badly infected eyes. The veterinarians, however are awaiting diagnostics, and it is feared she has an invasive cancer consuming the junction of her mouth and nose.
Over the next few days, rescuers will learn whether they are buying her time, comfort or the final kindness.
In the meantime, Quail is eating well and sleeping like a baby. She presses her tiny face into her person’s touch as if she feels better. She is comfortable for the first time in a long time.
And no matter what the results are or how Quail’s future shapes up – she has been rescued!
Emergency care, imaging, medication and whatever intervention gives her relief will be extensive, but after everything she endured alone, we refuse to let the deciding factor be money.
Quail does not know she was abandoned. She only knows she is finally safe. We want the rest of her life however long ~ to feel like someone came back for her.
Please join us in being safe haven for Quail.
All donations are tax deductible and go directly to Quail’s medical care.
Ways to help Quail:
Venmo | CashApp: MirisHaven (last 4 digits 4195)
Zelle: [email protected]
MHSDR, 204 Lawrence Dr, Rockville, MD 20850
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