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The rest of Abigail's Story

We are happy to report that Abigail was adopted by some really wonderful people who appreciate Abby for what she is - a little wild child with a great big ego!  They adore her and she healed from her surgery wonderfully.  She put some muscle on her boney little body and is now a beautiful, healthy, and very much loved little girl. 

Thank you to all who helped with Abigail.  Without your kind donations, we wouldn't be sharing these lovely pictures of our girl!

Abigail's Story

Click on any photo to view a larger image (more photos coming soon!)

In October 2006, a number of Fox Terrier Rescue volunteers received and email pleading for help for a young female fox terrier with a broken leg.  She was at a vet clinic, but needed to move on to rescue.  Not wanting to put her in a shelter, (after all, who would adopt a dog with a broken leg?), or to have to amputate her leg, they reached out for help from Fox Terrier Rescue.

Terry Cerisoles of South East Fox Terrier Rescue, and Jeanne Sanders and Cheryl Collins of Midwest Fox Terrier Rescue jumped at the challenge and began working on getting Abigail moving on to a new life.

Chuck and Patricia Bigelow, who had previously adopted 2 darling fox terriers from Cheryl Collins, were contacted and asked to help.  You see, Chuck is an Airline Pilot with Delta Airlines.  They live in Atlanta, and it just seemed like they would be able to help in ways no one else could!

Kathy Lauer of Midwest Fox Terrier Rescue in Minneapolis was then contacted to see if she could get her contacts at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Teaching Hospital to agree to look at Abigail.  Abigail needed a good orthopedic surgeon to look at her poor leg - and Kathy knew just the guy...

On October 9th, after much scrambling by Chuck, Patricia, and Terry, Abigail got ready for her first airline flight. Abby said good-bye to her caretakers at the vet clinic in Georgia and was taken to the airport in Atlanta.

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She was escorted all the way to Minneapolis by the wonderful Captain Bigelow and a great crew from Delta Airlines.

  She was handled lovingly by the ground crew from Delta and loaded carefully on the plane.  She took off for her 2 hour flight to a chilly Minneapolis.

Chuck and Kathy met at the Minneapolis airport and Abigail took her next step toward a healthy and happy life.

Abigail's first stop in Minnesota was Compassionate Care Animal Hospital in Brooklyn Park, MN.  There, Dr. Judi Funk and her technicians gave Abby a physical, a heart worm test, treated her for worms and fleas and kept her safe overnight.

On October 11th, Abigail made her way to the U of M Vet Hospital to meet with the talented Dr. Roberto E. Novo, the Medical Director and Head of the Department of Small Animal Surgery at the University of Minnesota.  (You may remember him from our last special needs crew - Rebel the Missouri puppy mill dog that needed facial reconstruction.  Dr. Novo and senior vet student Nate Rose gave Abigail a physical and looked over the numerous x-rays to determine the best course of action for Abby.  All the while, Kathy crossed her fingers that they could save the leg.

Good news came when Dr. Novo decided that the best course of action was insert more stabilizing screws into the rod in Abby's leg, brace it, get her to use it more to promote bone and muscle growth, and wait for a full recovery.  And so, on October 12, 2006, Abigail underwent surgery to stabilize her leg, and came through with flying colors. 

On Saturday, Kathy and her good friend Diane went to the University, loaded with clippers and scissors to get Abigail cleaned up.  If she has to live in a cage for the next few weeks, the less hair to collect dirt and smell, the better.  She was matted to the skin in most places, so they had to cut her hair short.  Abby was not very happy with the hair cut idea, but she put up with it like a trooper.  She is so thin that clipping her became an interesting endeavor because the clipper couldn't really "glide" as there is no fat between her skin and her bones. 

Kathy reported "We got to talk to 'Abby's vet student', Nate, and when she saw him, her tail about wagged off!  She seems to be a favorite there - she's got a sparkle in her eye and is a doll.  Seeing the hardware on on the outside of the leg with the screws going into her leg was a little shocking at first, but by the end of the 3 hour haircut event (we had to take a lot of breaks!), I hardly noticed it anymore."

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She will stay at the U of M for a few more days, then move back to Compassionate Care Animal Hospital for a week.  And then it's off to her new foster home with Cheryl Collins in Iowa.

Help Abigail move on in her journey and her road to recovery!  Please donate to Fox Terrier Rescue!

THANK YOU!

To learn about our puppy mill dogs, go to http://www.foxterrierrescue.net/Millstory.htm .  The extraordinary donations that were received from the general public allowed these dogs to get the care they needed, and also care for other mill dogs that have since come in to rescue.

 We can never thank you enough for your generosity in helping to save dogs’ lives.

For donations to the General AFTR fund to help these and other dogs in the care of Fox Terrier Rescue, you can donate via PayPal using your Credit Card or send a check to: 

Fox Terrier Rescue
c/o Lee Eckholm
AFTR Treasurer
430 East Grant Street
Appleton, WI  54911

and Lee will send you a receipt for your donation.  We will be forever grateful.  Even the smallest of donations will help to begin healing these wonderful dogs. 

Click on the link below to donate by credit card via PayPal.  Please send Lee Eckholm an email giving her your address information so she can send you a  receipt for your tax deductible donation.  Email Lee at leckholm@sbcglobal.net