December 2014
In late October we were contacted by the Auburn Valley Humane Society about a three year old Samoyed they took in as a stray. He was neutered, chipped, dewormed, flea treated, and vaccinated, and then… diagnosed with cancer, a squamous cell carcinoma. He had a mass over his left upper canine. They asked if we might find someone who could afford to treat Max, and if we couldn’t do that could we find a hospice home. After talking to our own vet, who predicted a $10,000 bill with heartbreak at the end, we reluctantly said we couldn’t take him. Instead we posted him on our email list and Facebook group. Someone from Portland stepped up, but after two weeks the vet in Auburn checked with us again because it had fallen through.
We publicized Max again, and had someone else say she could help. Unfortunately her way of helping was to post his story all over the place and tell us we weren’t doing enough, which didn’t help Max at all. Late last week the Auburn shelter vet let us know two people had applied to adopt him, then another applied, and she was in the process of deciding who would get him.
On December 10, the vet wrote again to let us know the original person from Portland came through after all, and Max was in surgery to have a quarter of his upper jaw removed. They will follow up with radiation and/or chemo, and Max will have a chance to live a long life. What will happen? Realistically this surgery doesn’t have a great success rate, but we hope for the best, and we appreciate the generosity of the man from Portland who is funding his surgery.
Holley, who monitors Craigslist ads all over the country, alerted us to two dogs in the Sedro Woolley area. Their owners moved to a farm, and their two Samoyeds were killing chickens and harassing livestock in the area. One neighbor threatened to shoot them if they showed up again, and they decided not to chance that happening. We wrote immediately offering our help. Carole went to visit them to ensure all was on the up and up, and reported back that they are wonderful dogs, although overweight, and we started checking with our applicants. Their names are Noka and Nanuk, and they came from a backyard breeder who wouldn’t answer when they needed help.
The applicants we thought would provide a good home for two dogs didn’t pan out; one said no, two never answered, and others said they only want one dog. We do have an applicant in Alaska who would take them but there is no way to do a home visit first. We decided to give the owners a little time to talk to that person first, and if it doesn’t work we’ll place them separately. The dogs are still young and should be easy to re-home. Right now we have 25 applications on file; we can count on half those people getting a dog somewhere else and not telling us, a few we can’t reach, and a handful who were serious enough about Samoyeds that they are willing to wait. Those are the ones we appreciate, who love the breed and wouldn’t have anything else.