From CARE – Cayman Animal Rescue Enthusiasts

Happy Rescue-versary to our sweet Bella!

12 months ago (Thu Aug 7) this sweet girl’s life did a full 360 and we know she never ever once looked back.   Bella, our 13 year old, sweet breeder girl who was discarded like trash, is now positively thriving in her retirement home.   It has been a rocky 12 months for this beauty, but she battled on with such grace and dignity and took every one of her surgeries and every drop of her medicine all in her wonderful little stride.

So we give thanks to so many people that have played a role over the past 12 months in rescuing this wonderful dog, from the doctors to the donors to her wonderful supporters, thank you. In particular we give very special thanks to Bella’s forever foster mum – thank you, you are her world and we know she is yours. Her name is Bella, because in spite of, and because of what has happened to her, she is beautiful.

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Bella’s Story August 2013

Bella was abandoned at Barker’s Beach in West Bay. We received a call about an “old dog” covered in ticks(so many ticks that the person calling originally thought this white dog was white with black spots), who was blind in one eye, had horrible diarrhea and had very obviously had numerous litters of puppies. Oh, and “she is very sweet.” they said.

Bella has heartworm disease, is full of intestinal worms, has skin tumours, mammary tumours, loss of vision in her left eye due to inward turning eyelids which cause her eyelashes to scrape her eye every time she blinks(entropian eyelids, a genetic defect), and is covered in skin calluses from living on concrete.

Bella is a ‘breeder dog’. She appears to have had a litter of puppies twice a year for the entire existence. In all those years, her caretaker did not give her heartworm preventative, her caretaker did not give her intestinal parasite preventative, her caretaker did not have her eyes checked, her caretaker did not ensure that she was living in comfortable quarters, and we can only assume that she did not receive vaccinations either.

Bella did what her caretaker wanted her to do-have puppies. And in return, when her poor body could no longer produce healthy (or even perhaps living) puppies, her caretaker took her to a remote beach and left her there to fend for herself or die.

In spite of everything she has endured, Bella, like most dogs, holds no grudges. She is curious about the new world she is experiencing, loves to meet and kiss new people, and is so gentle with children.

Bella has a long road ahead of her. Treatment for her heartworm disease has already started, along with treatment for intestinal worms, ticks and her sore eyes. She will need surgery, possibly multiple surgeries, to correct her eyelids, and to deal with her numerous tumours. But she can’t have surgery yet because of the heartworm disease, so the tumours will continue to grow until she is healthy enough for surgery. In the meantime she is enjoying her food and her new living conditions. And she is so sweet.

Bella is what happens when people are allowed to indiscriminately, and without regulation or oversight, breed dogs for money. Bella is what happens when people choose to purchase a puppy from backyard breeders. Dogs like Bella are thrown away every day, to either live or die as strays, or to be killed at overcrowded and under-resourced shelters all over the world.   And dogs like Bella, invisible to the world while they labour in small cages, and care for their endless puppies, are without a doubt, some of the most patient, sweetest dogs that exist.

CARE-Cayman Animal Rescue Enthusiasts

www.caymancare.ky