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Bradley - Santa Ana, CA ESRA # 2003-373CA
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Bradley came into ESRA's care on July 17th when Bill Ray pulled him from Riverside, CA, Animal Services. Bradley is estimated to be four years old. Bill and Karen Ray told Suzanne that Bradley was in rough condition. That was an understatement! He was transported to Suzanne Dilts to clean him up so he could be placed in a foster home. Brad was infested with flea, ticks and foxtails. He had bleeding and oozing sores all over his body.
Suzanne called me, as I also have experience with
lancing and pulling foxtails. I have never seen a dog in this bad a condition. The foxtails were buried deep into him. Most
of them were over an inch long. Some longer. I don't how some of the foxtails missed vital parts of his body. Suzanne
stripped him of his severely matted fur and found a mess in his front under arm that would turn most normal stomachs. The
infection had been going long enough that some parts of his under arm were starting to rot. I'm very glad Suzanne and I
have strong stomachs. The smell was terrible. When we would pull a foxtail what came out behind was a combination of puss
and blood. We quickly realized we had a very sick boy on our hands. The infections had been going for some time. We worked
on him for over three hours. Kim, who owns the kennel that we were working at, also provided us a lot of support. She even
offered to wipe our brows as it was also hot that evening. All through this Bradley was suffering. Occasionally he would
cry out when we would touch a particular painful spot, but he let us work on him even though he was in pain. Bradley would
even give me a kiss and wag his tail every now and again. He seemed to know we were helping him for probably his first
time.
It also looked as though Bradley hadn't had much to
eat lately as he is so very under weight. He only weighs 31 lbs. The next day Suzanne took him to Dr. Tiffany, DVM to see
if she could extract the remaining foxtails. Tiffany removed several more. Some were found deep in Bradley's ear canals.
But she couldn't put Bradley under for the required surgery as he was too sick. Bradley has to become stronger before he
can have surgery to remove the remaining foxtails.
Bradley has the sweetest disposition of any Springer I have ever met. He freely wags his tail. When he was getting his twenty minute soak in Epsom salts this evening he even wagged his tail while is was underwater. This worked out great and I didn't have to agitate the water in his tail area. Nothing like helping out some! He has been getting these baths every evening since coming into ESRA care. His condition is improving and soon he will be ready for surgery.
More later.
Contact: Don Osborne ozbow@sbcglobal.net
| BRADLEY'S GENEROUS SPONSORS: | |
 Bill & Vicki Wingo |
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| Palma Friery |
For all the wonderful work ERSA does |
| Steve and Lori Griego |
Honoring the efforts of rescue workers, especially those fostering a dog with Special Needs |
| Jamie and Ed Balazs |
In honor of Mickey, Zack, and Baby Audrey |
| Cathryne Slaughter |
In honor of Maggie, my best friend |
| Vickie Wallis |
On behalf of Casey, our 6 mth old Springer Girl, who cares about her fellow doggies in need |
| Jan Simon Gardner |
In honor of Nikki and Kimmi |
| Wendy-Marie Teichert |
In memory of Wendy Downey Teichert |
| Katherine Wilson |
In memory of Manchester Darby Wilson |
| Marjorie McCamey |
In loving memory of Macgyver McCamey, who provided my sister with 12 years of love and companionship |
| Tim, Dawn & Shelby Ochal |
In loving memory of Maggie Doodles |
| Kenneth Schmidt & Deborah
Cooke |
From Dudley, with a helping paw for his fellow Springer |
| Lee & Meredith Miller |
In memory of Mr. Jerry Popke |
| Tammy Pascarella Baker |
In memory of Paddy Cake Baker |