Dad and his daughter showed up at our front door the day after I got home from my grandmother's funeral in NJ and said "The shelter said you'd take our beagle"?
I had to turn them away that day, as I still had to go through my e-mails and phone calls to see what dogs I had on death row at the shelter. They were annoyed -- "We drove 100 miles to bring her here" and offered me a $25 donation if I took her then. I explained that dogs on death row at the shelter had to take priority. , I was told Penny was up to date on her shots, had been on heartworm preventative, but the family was moving to an apartment that doesn't allow pets because of financial difficulties. They claim they brought her to me because they loved her too much to take a chance that she'd be put down at the shelter before being adopted. Penny was supposed to be purebred and 4 yrs. old, according to her owners.
I told them I'd work on it, although Penny looked older than 4 yrs. to me, and looks like grandpop was part basset. I found a foster home in Knoxville, close to their home so they wouldn't have to drive back, and made arrangements for her to go in the end of that week. They were told to bring her vet records, the donation check, and all her stuff to the foster home. They showed up at the foster home empty-handed except for Penny, and my foster home didn't realize that she should have turned them away until we had the signed release, the vet records, etc.
Two days later the foster called me saying Penny was very lethargic, was bleeding from the rear and they took her to the emergency vet near them ($267.00 bill). The vet clinic said she "might be in heat", "might have pyrometra" (an infection of the uterus that is life-threatening), had "abdomenal" breath -- never heard of that one! - maybe she had thrown up before getting there? Said her teeth were in horrible shape (they were -- we had to do a dental and extract 6 teeth) and that she had fleas and maggots on her skin.
I called her owners and asked for the signed release. Their excuse for not getting to to me was that it was in the car that was repossessed. I told them I'd e-mail them another and I needed it immediately in order to treat Penny, as the $267 vet bill was technically theirs since I didn't have a signed release. On one of my calls to the owner, I got the son and asked him when they were moving, and he seemed puzzled -- said they were "thinking" about it -- and told me the name of the apartment building they were looking at -- it DOES allow pets, but has a $250 pet deposit.
I went to Knoxville a day later and picked her up and brought her here. Anyway, on our trip up to Knoxville, we stopped at Penny's house to try to get the signed release, and found this "pen" in the backyard -- obviously where Penny was being kept. No one was home to sign the release. Technically, without a signed release, there was nothing we could do medically other than give her antibiotics. And the son told me he was glad that we were able to figure out what was wrong with Penny, which led me to believe that they possibly knew she was sick when they decided to surrender her.
Five days later, I finally received the transfer of ownership document, properly signed, with a note that the donation would be mailed the next day as dad had forgotten his checkbook. (Their donation has not arrived, and it's been 3 weeks since their promise.) There were still no vet records attached and they told me they couldn't remember which vet they had used 4 YEARS AGO to get her shots.
Then they told me they purchased her 5 years ago and were told she was 10 months old at that time, yet their vet told them she was much older, so she's probably now closer to 6 or 7.
We took Penny into the vet Monday to have her spayed - she did have pyrometra, so our spay bill alone was over $450, she's stapled from the bottom of her ribcage down to her vulva, and when they went to bring her out, she had pulled out a few staples and had to have them redone.
She's been in the house with us this week, and other than the fact that she'll charge the other beagles if there's food being prepared, she's a doll.
Penny is a true "rescue" -- she lived with people who didn't care enough for her to get her proper vet care (the rabies shots are required by LAW and still hadn't been kept up to date), who appear to have exaggerated their claims on her age and medical status. Penny deserves a better life than she was living, and SOS Beagle Rescue intends to find it for her!