Rough Night

Last night left me shaking.  I'm still trying to deal with all of my emotions about it.  Here's what happened:

Hubband and I were just sitting down to relax for an hour to watch a TV show when we hear a crazy noise.  We had the TV on so we weren't sure quite what we were hearing but it didn't stop. So we paused the show and ran to the backyard.  It sounded like the neighbors dog may have caught a cat and the cat was losing the battle.  It wasn't quite that simple... (note: I don't wish ill on any cats, even if they are the spawn of Satan)

The neighbors dog is a very bouncy 90lb boxer who doesn't get enough attention or exercise, so naturally he takes out his boredom by running around and playing with objects in the backyard.  Unfortunately, one of these objects is a decorative, metal food dish stand.  The decorative metal is about a 1/4" thick.  It looks something like this:

PLEASE DON'T BUY THIS FOR BIG DOGS!

Not exactly something that I think of to put out for a Boxer - a Chihuahua, or some other foofy dog, perhaps, but not a Boxer.  Nonetheless, this is what his owners have decided to give him.  In all of his frivolity, the dog (we assume) pounced on this stand in his boredom and managed to get his paw through one of the curlycue's on the side of the dish.  He. Was. SCREAMING!  If you've never heard a dog scream in terror and pain, consider yourself lucky.

Now here's the catch.  The owner's are out of town.  They've left the dog at home with their cousin.  This cousin has dogs, two foofy dogs as a matter of fact, so he knows how to handle himself around animals.  But he's not from San Diego.  He's from Yuma.  So he knows nothing about the vet centers in San Diego.  And why should he?  Who would have expected this to happen?  He calmed the dog down a bit but not before Hubband and I rushed over there to see what had happened.  It's amazing what your mind stops worrying about when you see an animal in pain.  I was in my pajamas pants and tank top, no bra, no shoes or socks, trying to take care of this dog in a backyard that hasn't seen water in years (literally - two years).  When I came home I realized I was covered in burrs, and dead grass.  I didn't care.

And then it hits me - I got into emergency management mode.  Deal with this situation.  The tin snips aren't going through the dish.  We can't move the dog - he's not only in a lot of pain, and we don't have the right equipment to immobilize him in a vehicle, but he's going to hurt himself or us when we try to move him.  Hubband calls an Animal Rescue center to see if they can send someone to come get him.  Nope - but they did tell him that if they came to get the dog, it would be considered abandoned and the owners would never get him back.  Assholes.  Uh... not an option (even if I think he might be better in another home).  

I call the Emergency vet center and they give me three phone numbers.  The first is an emergency, mobile veterinarian.  She doesn't answer.  The second is a mobile, in-home euthanasia veterinarian who the vet clinic thought might have some information about transporting hurt animals.  They also don't answer.  Finally, I find an angel by the name of Damian Mitchell.  He specializes in animal transportation. He's trying to talk me into how I can move the dog because his services are expensive ($225 to pick up the dog).  Then he hears the dog screaming.  He says "I'll get in my car NOW!".  

30 minutes later this angel arrives at our house (he drove down from north county) and completely takes over the situation. He's calm, authoritative, but not pushy, or rude.  He calmed the dog down.  He calmed us down.  He was truly a hero.  By 9:30 last night (this all started at 7:10) we had the dog at the emergency vet clinic.  The ultimate cost of the night was 2+ hours of heartache.  I don't care if it cost us $225.  I wouldn't have cared if it cost us $1,000.

I guess if I can leave you with nothing else, when in doubt about moving an animal, call Damian.  His company is TLC Pet Care & Transport and you can reach him at 760-809-8953.  I want everyone in San Diego County to know about this man - he's truly a gem.  

Thanks for reading... I know it's not the standard, upbeat post, but I had to share about what happened.  I'm still pretty shaken.  And an update on the dog - they were able to get the dog dish stand off him in 5 minutes.  I know it seems like a lot of anxiety for us for them to remove it and make it all right in 5 minutes but honestly, I'm not a vet.  I couldn't imagine trying to force it off myself, and we could have been hurt ourselves.  Lovely, adorable Havoc is fine.  He'll be back at the fence in no time!