Breaking News: An “Owen-Like” Rescue is Unfolding!

When a photo like this shows up on your phone with a text, “Please take her, she is pitiful” the emotions are overpowering. Especially when two equally disturbing and devastating cases came through in the last four days. When you are called to assist with a rash of abuse and neglect cases, it is easy to be paralyzed with grief. But the volunteers of this great organization chose to act instead. Inspired by Owen’s story, PAWS volunteers orchestrated a driver, a plane ride, a rental car, a route, and an extensive team of veterinarians and foster homes to welcome these three brave dogs to the next chapter of their lives.

As I type this email, the extraordinary Loren McCaghy is boarding a plane to fly to Memphis. He will pick up Lauren, Kalila, and Atlas and drive them well over 1,200 miles into the arms of our veterinary teams and experienced foster homes that are anxiously awaiting their arrival. We hope all our fans will follow along on Facebook as Loren and the pups embark on their journey.

The veterinary costs associated with three trauma cases in one week are enough to give this PAWS Cofounder an ulcer, but I learned long ago that our supporters will always help us find a way. Please consider making a donation to these three brave pups through the Owen Fund. All donations collected for the next two weeks via the Owen Fund will go directly to Lauren, Kalila, and Atlas.

Thank you for your generosity,
Starbucks Lady, Loren McCaghy, Lauren, Kalila, Atlas & all the Volunteers and Pups at PAWS New England

A tremendous thank you to Natalie Thurner for creating this video of the three dogs. PAWS New England very much looks forward to bringing you the “after” photos of these three dogs when they put on weight and their hair grows back! We know that many of our fans simply can not stand to look at photos of injured and abused dogs, so we have only included head shots of these three beautiful creatures below.

Meet the VIP Passengers

Lauren (named for her hero Loren!) is approximately 11-13 years old. Someone found her in this condition and brought her to the shelter. She was covered in fleas, emaciated, dehydrated, and completely bald. She was terrified at the shelter and buried her head in the arms of the volunteer who scooped her out of her cage and promised her that help was on the way. Lauren was rushed to the vet where she was stabilized and sent to amazing foster mom Natalie Thurner while we await her lab results. Shockingly, her skin scrape was negative for mange, so we will be taking her to our specialists to determine the cause of her hair loss. Natalie reports that Lauren, aka “Memaw” follows her anxiously around the house, afraid of being left alone. Hard to even imagine what this poor dog must have been through. One thing is for sure- Memaw is looking forward to a quiet retirement home. She is highly unimpressed with the puppies in the household when they attempt to play with her ;) PAWS New England looks forward to giving this special senior a quiet home to recuperate in and become the lap dog we know she wants to be!

Kalila (Arabic for Beloved) is a 1-2 year old pit bulls mix that was found tangled in chain that bound her to a dumpster. The chain was so short, that she was forced to sit in her own waste while heartless people piled trash on top of her. She was discovered by heroic volunteers Lori Miller and Deborah Wolstenholme who cut her chain and took her home. Unfortunately, this was not the end of Kalila’s adventure. The next day, on the way to the vet’s office, she panicked and slipped out of her collar. For the next 48 hours, a team of volunteers tracked her to a used car dealership and gently coaxed her back in the car. Her frightening story was detailed in this blog post by Lori. Thankfully, Kalila has had a seamless transition to Natalie’s home where we have discovered that Kalila loves kids, cats, and other dogs! She has been diagnosed with demodectic mange and severe malnutrition, but thankfully she is heartworm negative! We can’t wait for Kalila to start the next chapter of her life.

Atlas was surrendered to Tipton in this condition (for full body photos, click on this link) and the staff at Tipton are assessing whether they have enough proof to bring his owner up on animal cruelty charges. He was so emaciated and weak that he could barely hold his head up. Volunteers at Tipton were heartbroken by the “hollowness” is his eyes and begged for his life when his name appeared on the euthanasia list. Thanks to the support of our facebook fans, we were able to pull him. Despite his suffering state, Atlas’ gentle personality was evident from the first day. He placed his head gently on the volunteer’s leg as she drove him to safety and fell asleep. We were saddened to learn that Atlas is heartworm positive, but will get this special boy the care he deserves. Atlas is the third and final passenger on this trip to a new life. We can’t wait to see him all filled out and enjoying a life of being spoiled rotten!