We have been nothing but "Parvo Rescue South Florida" for the past two weeks but, before we were all but annihilated by a completely preventable disease, we had agreed to take a Mom and six - yes SIX Doxie puppies from Puerto Rico.
Their tickets had been purchased, they had been vetted and cleared to fly. They had transport to the airport and as bad as the situation is for stray animals in South Florida, it is even worse in Puerto Rico and that is no place for a Mom and six puppies to stay.
The rescuers in PR had held up their end of the bargain and had gotten them ready to fly (and were counting on them being able to fly as they had more dogs waiting to come in). We had given our word and if you break your word once, even in the face of 7 Parvo Dogs (which is a darn good reason to have to go back on your word) - as soon as you do it once, it is that much easier to do it again and that is not a slippery slope we are interested in entertaining.
So late Friday night, this Mom and her six puppies arrived on a flight from PR to Miami via American Airlines, where they were picked up and brought back to a foster home until they can get to the vets on Monday morning.
We have literally just made a huge ask to help us battle parvo, but we are now back on the hook again for intake expenses for 7 dogs, which run roughly $400 each for a checkup, vetting, shots, bloodwork, spay/neuter a bed, blanket, harness and leash, and that is even before we know if any of them have anything else medical going on.
The last thing we want to do is ask for any more money, but our work goes on even in spite of our parvo battle. We are hesitating to put this out, but intake expenses are real and the worst thing that can happen is for our community to come back and tell us to pound sand.
If you are one of the magical people who might not be inclined to tell us to pound sand, we welcome any support to help offset the roughly $3,000 additional intake expenses from this Mom and puppies, who will now never have to worry about being hungry, sick or hurt AND will open up 7 more spaces in Puerto Rico to give other dogs a chance at rescue as well.
