LovinLife- Happy New Year's all!

[Britesea]

I pray you will be able to keep them alive. They are so far gone. If the female is pregnant and that skinny, she may abort, which would actually be a blessing.

I found this recipe on a website about helping emaciated dogs.

Satin Balls to help an emaciated dog

1 pound cheap hamburger (for high fat %)
1 1/3 cups Total cereal
1 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 raw egg
6 tablespoons wheat germ
1 package Knox unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
Pinch of salt

The only thing I suggest you change is the oil; vegtable oil has no health benefit, so substitute it with an oil that does (like flax seed oil which is high in healthy omega 3s).

Mix it all together and make patties. Serve raw, freeze the extra.

 

[valmom]

Oh, those poor things. I hate people. So glad your DH stopped for them.

 

[LovinLife]

Thank you to everyone and all the good advice. When I let the dogs out of the garage this morning the uhh taller (dare i say bigger) dog went after one of my ducklings straight away. So I just don't know what to do. Right now the tall one is locked in the dog kennel we use for the ducks night pen. I just gave the dogs some cat food last night and they had the runs all over the garage. What about rice and ground turkey? That's all I have on hand right now. I will be going out today and will get some yogurt and dog food. Should I call Animal Control or get them healthier first? Or should I get them healthy and adopt them out myself? I just don't have anywhere to keep them fenced and away from the ducks and chickens. I know the AC around here won't give them shots and I don't think they do any vet care. I've seen litters of kittens die from "kitty colds" in there. I adopted both my cats there and when I adopted the first 2 years ago they were given dewormer but the second wasn't given anything. I'm just worried sick about them.

 

[justusnak]

Aww, those poor dogs!! Seeing that just breaks my heart. I hope you are able to get them back to good health...and can find them homes. They are beautiful dogs!

 

[TanksHill]

So sad. I just dont get how people can let a dog get that bad. Let the things run free they would do better on their own. Yes I know not the right thing but at least the poor things would have a chance.

Bless your husband and your efforts.

G

 

[justusnak]

I am sure that the dog went after the ducks because they are hungry. Also, they look to be like some sort of hound...so they will chase. Sad. If you take the to AC, I would bet they would just put them down. Its sad, but those two are in bad shape, and will require some work to get them back to health again. Try locating a rescue near you. Was your hubby able to get a license plate number? I hope they find the "person" that did this to those poor dogs. The rice and turkey will be good for them, in moderation. Slow and easy. Good luck!!!

 

[lorihadams]

Yeah, if you feed them too much at a time they are going to have tummy issues because of the condition of their stomachs. They probably will throw it back up if you feed too much too. Keep them quarantined and see if you can find a rescue shelter and explain what happened. Definitely call animal control and give them the license plate number and press the issue. Those people deserve to be prosecuted.

I agree with the duck issue too....they look like hounds and probably were gotten to be hunting dogs and someone decided they didn't want them anymore and dumped them. They'll go after the birds because they are hungry and see them as an easy meal. If you can get to a pet store you can probably find out from them where a rescue organization is locally cause a lot of times they do adoption drives at the chain pet stores like Petco and Petsmart so they might be able to help you out.

The sad thing is that if they dumped these two then there is a good chance they have more dogs at their house that are in just as bad shape as these two. I've seen hunt clubs dump off the "bad dogs" out of their kennels like this before but the 20 other dogs they have look just as bad only they run deer better so they keep them around.

Bless you for being proactive!

 

[JRmom]

That's heartbreaking. Those two wouldn't last a day with our AC. There's no money to rehabilitate. Kudos to you and your husband. I hope you find a solution.

 

[Farmfresh]

Same here. They would be immediately destroyed at our Shelter.

The problem with starvation to that level is that the body starts stealing protein from the vital organs. Heart especially.

The stable where I used to give lessons fostered several horse abuse cases. One time we got 5 horses from a race stable that were emaciated. One of the horses had almost totally recovered and was looking great. He was turned out into the "play yard" while his stall was being cleaned and he actually played some for the first time since we had him. Then he was returned to his stall and he dropped dead. Autopsy (because this case was being prosecuted) showed that he had major damage to his heart from the starvation.

I would do the turkey if you have it. Mostly just small quantities often.

 

[savingdogs]

I looked! I've seen worse.....much worse. Those dogs are standing and eating. You won't have any problem keeping them alive. Everyone is correct however about giving plenty of SMALL meals.....and also this is not the time to evaluate temperament and prey drive. Starving dogs will not behave the same as normal dogs. Their instincts to kill will win out. I don't have opinions about what to feed them....just food! Keep their bowls apart as they may fight over the food. Keep all other animals away from starving animals eating. The female you think may be pregnant should have some sort of extra calcium, cottage cheese would be excellent.

After feeding them, this is what I would do:
1) Find out the laws in your area about strays. Call Animal control or the police department and learn what they are and begin taking the steps. Sometimes they ask you to place an ad, keep the dog a certain number of days or make a report to animal control. Do not assume their owners were "BAD". They may have lost the dogs, the dogs could have been stolen, or they could be searching desperately for them, do not make assumptions. They are not pit bulls and don't have fighting scars, so you don't have any evidence there that the people are "bad". Even very nicely raised dogs could be skittish of strangers especially after their ordeal. So place a "found" dog report and see if any local papers do free ads for "found" dogs, many do. Put up a flier at the vet clinic, that is how you make the dogs legally "yours" to do with as you see fit.

2) Take the dogs to any local vet to scan for a microchip (I've never seen one charge for this). I've seen animals returned to their owner after five years of being lost. While at the vets, ask if there are any local rescue organizations that could help with re-homing some strays you found. I sure hope there is a local group. In my area, there are several groups that would probably put your dog on a wait list for a foster home. See if anyone from the vet clinic will give you free advice, such as what breeds are they, is the one pregnant, how old do they look and do they look familiar to them? Try to find out where you might find low cost spay-neuter assistance and whether someone ELSE will pay for that for you, give you dog food, crates, etc.. Finding a group that would list the dogs on Petfinder.com after you have established there is no owner (some areas have a three-day waiting period, our area has a 30-day one).

3) For the time being, keep those dogs away from your livestock. If that means shutting them up in a barn or being chained or crated or caged, so be it. What they need right now is rest and food, not exercise. We can help you "train" those dogs in a few days if you need to. For now, see what their status is. If you find no owner is looking for them, I'd immediately start looking for a home for them because of the livestock issue. I'd treat them for fleas and worms (this is where a rescue could help you, they often have this stuff on hand already) so they don't contaminate my property.

I once assumed "bad" people had lost a dog I found and was angry that I had to adhere to laws to find the former owner, but I did, while I fattened the dog up. Lo and behold, the dog was microchipped and the owner contacted. I was so reluctant to give the dog back, it had finally started to gain weight and I'd had it about two weeks. But I was legally supposed to give the dog back,so I called the people, and this was their story. They had been on vacation a few months earlier, and hired a neighbor to watch their dog while gone. The neighbor had accidentally left the gate unlatched and the dog had escaped and the neighbor was so upset and worried he never told the owners. So they come home and their dog has been missing for two weeks. Our shelter is a three-day hold and they didn't understand that all dogs with microchips are scanned, and didn't realize their dog could not have been put down. Even so, they looked and looked for the dog, hoping it had not been euthanized, and finally about three months later, I found them through the microchip they had put in their dog as a puppy. They were overjoyed! They never stopped looking for their dog, just missed my ad, and were appalled at how thin it had become, and it was also 1/2 a county away from their home. The dog was shy, but that was because people had been mean to it while it was a stray (it was a big, tough looking pit bull cross). The dog was extremely happy to find these folks and I realized not to judge owners by the way a stray looks. They were very nice people and vowed to NEVER have their dog babysat that way again and next vacation they would take it with them. And I vowed to always look for owners. Usually if a dog is in that condition there will not be one or they will not come forward. Someone who dumped them will not call you.

Bless you for taking them in, I cannot stop myself from helping starving animals, it just isn't in my nature. Let me know if you need more assistance, helping strays is a specialty of mine. For the time being assume they would both kill your ducks, livestock, whatever, until proven otherwise. Send me a PM if you would like, I'd be happy to help you find a local rescue if I can, or if there is none I'll see what I can find nationally that would be helpful to you. But asking at your local vet clinic will usually get most of the answers, you may even find there is a place you can take them where somebody will take over for you. In our county, the local groups would jump all over the two skinny dogs and you'd have a foster home in a few days. I forget where you are at, but I'd take the dogs myself if you could get them to me.