Sweet Spaniel Gets Another Second Chance

from Out of the Cage! (March/April 2006)

When Vanilla walked out of a NYC Animal Care & Control shelter with her new family last year, she had no idea that within a year she would be returned to the shelter as "damaged goods." Sadly, in the relatively short time this sweet seven-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel mix spent with her adoptive family, she was hit by a car while off-lead, resulting in a severely injured leg. So her family returned her to the shelter.

As soon as she arrived back at the shelter, AC&C staff contacted the Mayor's Alliance, which arranged for the Picasso Veterinary Fund to pay for this sweet lady's medical care. Vanilla's leg was lame, having no sensation or weight-bearing ability whatsoever. An orthopedic surgeon at the Veterinary Emergency & Referral Group in Brooklyn — one of the excellent veterinary facilities that treats many of our Picasso Veterinary Fund animals — diagnosed Vanilla as having nerve damage resulting in no sensation in her paw.

Vanilla's doctors identified three treatment options. They could simply leave the leg alone and do nothing. They could repair the leg so that it would remain in a permanent walking position — advantageous for mobility, but with a downside of possibly focusing Vanilla's attention on the paw and trigger chewing (self-mutilation) of the leg. A third option: amputate the leg.

Despite the absence of feeling, the injured leg continues to provide Vanilla with the ability to balance, and so her doctors recommended that surgery be delayed to see how well she adapts to her lame leg. So far she's doing just great! And she's anxiously awaiting adoption at Animal Haven's adoption center at Biscuits & Bath, 41 West 13th Street, in Manhattan. If you're interested in meeting Vanilla, stop by or call (212) 901-7914.

If she could speak, Vanilla likely would warn anyone who shares a dog's life how quickly that life can be changed — or wiped out — when left off-lead. We'll never know the exact circumstances that lead to Vanilla's accident, but far too often we see the injuries and loss of life that can result from dogs being left off-lead (like Lance, another Picasso Veterinary Fund recipient, whose leg had to be amputated as a result of injuries from a run-in with a car). Or the dangers of slipping a lead while tethered outside a store awaiting a guardian's return (like a young Schnauzer who was killed when he slipped his lead several weeks ago in Chelsea and ran headlong into rush-hour traffic).

Thankfully, Vanilla got a second chance, despite her injury. She, and all the other wonderful dogs and cats who have received critical medical treatment paid for by the Picasso Veterinary Fund, are the lucky ones.

To help more AC&C animals get the special medical care they need so that they can be adopted into loving homes, please support to the Picasso Veterinary Fund. Click here to make a convenient online donation.