Please consider helping RCBTR with the cost of Junior's continuing care. We also have 15 other dogs in our care right now...3 are heartworm positive and some still need to be spayed/neutered. So here is Junior's story...

Meet Junior (although here at his foster home he is known as Tyrion, the little lion)!
By his beautiful face, gleaming eyes and sunny disposition you would never suspect everything Junior has been through in his short 22 months of life. Junior was purchased at a flea market to be used as a stud, and was kept outside tied to a lead without supervision day after day. After contracting heartworm, because he never received any preventive care, his little leg got wrapped on the lead and he was left out there with no care for several days. He lost all sensation in his foot due to nerve damage, so as many animals unfortunately will do when faced with this situation, he chewed off his own back leg. By the time he was taken to the vet, his leg was necrotic and infected and he was so anemic the only thing the veterinarian could do was give him a blood transfusion and amputate his leg. To top it off he also developed a bad case of Demodex mange!
His “owner” did not respond to several messages left by the veterinarian until five days after leaving him at the office. After learning what treatment would cost, and that Junior “obviously could no longer serve as a stud” the owner surrendered him to the Reidsville Animal Hospital. There, in the care of Dr. Ringer and the wonderful and kind staff of the Reidsville Animal Hospital, Junior started his slow and painful road to recovery. After a few e-mails were sent out to find a rescue that could help Junior, RCBTR stepped in to continue the care for this sweet, resilient boy.
Junior is safe now, and with another generous donation from Dr. Ringer, is being treated for his heartworm and Demodex. He is walking fine on his three little legs (Yes folks! This 35 lb boy is a Miniture English Bull Terrier) and enjoying much love and RR at his foster home. He has a long way to go, but he is soaking up all the love and attention, eating like a king and enjoying leisurely naps on the couch. Despite all that happened to him, Junior is loving, playful, dog friendly and still has that amazing personality only English Bull Terriers have. He wins hearts wherever he goes, and sometimes I swear I can see him smiling at us.
But why am I telling you all this? I am telling you this story to beg you to PLEASE not leave your dog tied outside with no supervision! All it takes is for that lead to wrap around one of their limbs for a short amount of time and cut the circulation to that limb. Once the tissue and the nerves starts to die off, nothing can be done, and an otherwise perfectly healthy pup will have a disability forever because of it.
Please supervise your pets if you need to have them on a lead outside. Please provide them with preventive care. Heartworm prevention costs less than $6 a month, and there are several clinics in the US that will spay or neuter your pet for a nominal fee, as well as several clinics that provide low cost vaccination. Owning a pet is a huge responsibility, you are caring for a life, for a breathing, living and loving being that depends on you for his well-being.
Here in our house, our pets and our fosters, are treated like family, because they are family.
Won't you step up and do the same for your pet today?
Cris.
(RCBTR foster mom)