Last month, my wife and I adopted a new puppy, Bailey. She’s a rat terrier/chihuahua mix, but everybody mistakes her for a baby lab. Bailey and our 10 year old bichon, Jake, are quickly becoming best friends.
The organization we adopted her from, PAWS New England, sent me an email this morning to let me know about a crisis they and many other rescue organizations are facing.
Heartworm Crisis
Heartworm disease is a parasitic infection transmitted by mosquito. It’s easily prevented with a monthly pill, but 1 out of every 4 dogs rescued by PAWS has the disease. It’s treated with a toxic injection called Immiticide. The effects are a lot like chemotherapy.
Immiticide is the only approved treatment for heartworm disease, and the company that makes it faced a shortage over the last month or two. As a result, there’s a backlog of dogs who are waiting to be treated. While the shortage is over, rescue dogs are not adopted out until they have been treated.
Because of this shortage, euthanasia rates are skyrocketing. Rescue organizations cannot take in any new dogs until their currents ones are adopted into homes. Spring is normally “puppy season” and one of the peak adoption periods. Many puppies are being put down because there’s no where for them to go.
The shelter Bailey was rescued from (and that PAWS partners with) has a 90 percent kill-rate. She’s the only one from her litter to survive.
PAWS is also facing a looming $10,000 cost to treat the backlog of heartworm infected dogs, whose symptoms have gotten worse due to lack of treatment.
Kelly Parker, cofounder of PAWS, explains the problem far more eloquently than I did in this video.
Hearts for Heartworm from Kelly Parker on Vimeo.
Here’s what you can do to help
- Donate to PAWS or your rescue organization of choice.
- If you’ve been considering adopting a dog, now is the time to do so. Head over to Petfinder and see what’s out there. Every dog adopted frees up space at a rescue organization for another one who’s on a euthanasia list.
- Not ready to adopt, but have some time/space? Why not consider fostering to help free up some space.
- Spread the word! Tweet this. Facebook it. Share it with your network on LinkedIn. Email your friends.
Thanks for your help!
We just adopted a dog from a rescue. She had been left for dead back in January freezing temps during a snow and ice storm, had been abused and had heartworms. She went through the terrible heartworm treatments and is healthy now. She is the sweetest dog and I can’t imagine our family without her!
@Holly – Thanks for sharing your story. It’s amazing to me what some people put some of these poor dogs through. There’s no horrible story with Bailey. She just comes from a county in TN where, like many places in the South, there’s too many dogs and not enough people who want them. They’re not really good about spaying and neutering in many of these areas, so there’s a big stray problem.
Bailey had actually gotten adopted, and then was brought back after the woman who adopted her’s landlord found out about her.
I would like to see a pic of Bailey now. I have a rescue I got when she was 3 weeks. Looks like yours. Vet thinks mine is terrier and basenji mix. She does bark and yodel and has huge ears.
Hi Marcy – Here’s an updated pic [click here].
The rat terrier/chihuahua mix hypothesis was blown out of the water when she hit 20 pounds… then 30… then 40. She’s leveled off at about 42 pounds.
As best we can tell, she’s some kind of lab/terrier mix.