The pleading eyes of a galgo whose leg was severed in a trap, a doleful brood mama with 10 dead puppies in utero, a whimpering litter of starving podenco puppies tossed away in a paper sack resulting in multiple injuries. Imagine facing challenges of this nature which is exactly what the Spanish rescue groups do daily.
How can we help this one? How will we pay for their care? These are the questions the groups must ask themselves. Hound rescues happen in different ways. Many occur on the streets while others take place at kill stations. In either case, the groups must act quickly to get the dogs to safety. And that is when reality hits — a newly rescued dog may be basically healthy or have a medical and/or surgical condition that will take months to heal.
When timing is critical and a split decision to save a dog has to be made, we want the rescue groups to know that financial assistance for medical care can be provided. At GPS we believe that every hound has the right to be healed. Presently we grant monthly funds to several groups on a rotating basis to help with day-to-day shelter needs but we now recognize that more help must be provided to meet emergency medical needs. Saving a dog is just the beginning of a process that involves diagnosis, treatment and ultimately, adoption. We are committed to establishing a GPS Emergency Medical Fund to quickly send financial aid for emergency treatments.
At a minimum, a basic veterinarian workup including bloodwork, vaccinations, neutering, microchip and passport will cost upwards of $400. For long term care of afflictions such as leishmania, filaria, and the effects of malnutrition, the costs rise into high hundreds of dollars. For surgical procedures or difficult to diagnose medical conditions that require hospital stays, testing, follow-up visits, physical therapy, long-term medications and specials foods, the costs will be in the thousands of dollars. Multiply that by multiple dogs and the expenses are astronomical and financially draining as groups typically function on a deficit.
This past year we have seen more emergency medical cases than we can possible recount including radical limb surgeries, eye removals/repairs, mange and dermatologic conditions, amputations, cracked skull management, tumor removals, and chronic wound care.
PLEASE donate to the GPS Emergency Medical Fund. Help us take action and provide treatment for the dogs that need our help. This will be an ongoing fund but as the hunt season will be ending in February, this season's donations are needed to save the onslaught of abandoned galgos and podencos. No amount is too insignficant. Thank you in advance for caring about the galgos and podencos.