Trip to Dog Park Becomes a Medical Emergency

As I told you last week, we find many friends at the dog park. I am lucky enough to find many in both human and furry form. One of the beautfiul furry ones that I have met is Faith.

Faith is a gorgeous Doberman rescued from an unfortunate situation, and she recently had the scare of a lifetime. I asked Faith's owner, Dorothy, to give me details of that tragic day, and her story was so compelling, I thought it was better told in her words:

"We are so much like our dogs in so many ways, sharing the joys of a playful ball game, cuddling up for naps together, excited about a walk in the woods or loving a treat. Some dogs just don’t experience these relationships because evil-doers have slipped into their lives. Dogs' innate personalities of unconditional love and affection, friendship and loyalty have been hampered, and solitude, starvation, a whip, or shrieking voices have robbed them of these pleasures.

"Faith, a Doberman, came from this gut-wrenching background. She is making strides to belong to the ‘pack’ but work is to be done. The love that she shows my family and friends at is tear jerking. If people have similarities to dogs, could we trust our abusers like Faith does?

"One afternoon, while frolicking to the dog park along with her sister, Java, a Lab, Faith suddenly jumped about two feet into the air. With this reaction, I assumed Faith was stung by a bee until I saw her paw sliced and massive amounts of blood pouring out. Thinking quickly, I turned around and ran back to the car as calmly as possible. Faith, by now, was weakening and Java was frightened. I sped off to the Dunedin Animal Hospital, ran into the office, and was followed back to the car by two technicians. They picked Faith up, still bleeding profusely, and carried her into the hospital. Dr. Woodley performed emergency surgery. Faith severed an artery and three tendons and was stitched, cauterized, and put into a cast. Upon knowing Faith was OK and spending the night at the hospital, I made my way back to the site where Faith was ‘critically’ injured. Scanning the area, I found a broken beer bottle with a jagged edge around the circumference of the neck of the bottle. A bottle purposely broken and left in the path waiting for an accident to happen.

"Faith, once again, was a recipient of evil-doers. To fillet a paw because of a litterbug in our parks predicated by an inconsiderate, unaccountable attitude is unacceptable.

Please clean up your act and respect our parks."

Please clean up your glass bottles. This incident proves how much of a hazard hey can be to animals and people. Luckily, Faith pulled through, but not to the tune of some pricey vet bill, I am sure. If you don't have curbside pickup, clear glass (no lids, labels OK) is accepted at:

• Gulfport Neighborhood Center, 1617 49th St. S. (see attached solid waste service rules for more information)
• Gulfport Recreation Center, 5730 Shore Blvd. S. (see attached "Gulfport Recycling" pdf)

Other beer bottles should be thrown away.