2/14/20 – 
Here are some happy updates we recently received from their loving families:
NOEL – It was around Christmas, 2015 when Noel was brought into the emergency room where Gina was working. She was dying of parvo virus. It turned out that Noel had a sibling who died of parvo but the backyard breeder still used the mom to breed. In January, 2016 she was adopted by a loving family. Unfortunately, Noel was diagnosed with Lymphoma this past year but she is getting lots of love and medical care by the beautiful people who adopted her.
MACK – It was 2015 when we were contacted about Mack. He was found on the streets and found to be positive for heart worm. Heart worm treatment is very expensive but we were happy to give Mack a second chance. Here he is today.
BENTLEY (AKA ALI) – It was 2016 when, at just 2 days old, Ali was “smashed” in a recliner. He was brought into the emergency where Gina worked and Ali’s owner surrendered him to Gina. Ali had several surgeries and trips to Michigan State Veterinary School/Hospital. Gina cared for him until he was fully recovered and then found a wonderful mom who gave us this photo the other day. Gina still visits her little Ali (aka Bentley). By the way, Gina named him Ali after Mohammed Ali who had recently died at the time.
LOLLIPOP – She was one of a number of cats who was cared for by greenhouse owners. Somehow she broke her leg and no one could afford to help her. We received a call from a rescue group we’ve helped in the past and they were able to get her and take her to one of our favorite vets. Unfortunately, she had to have her leg amputated but today she is doing great. – diana
Category Archives: Dogs/Puppies
Sara Lee – Hit By a Car
2/13/20 – Our friend, Shelley E., got a phone call about a dog hit by a car. She immediately went and picked up the dog but not before contacting me. Sara Lee was taken to one of our partner vets where she was x-rayed, tested, vaccinated and treated for fleas and worms. After spending the night at the vet, Sara Lee went to POET Rescue. Animals are saved when the village works together. ~ diana
4paws1heart.org/donations/
Joy – Attacked by Two Dogs – Found Heart Worm Positive and With Tumors
2/10/20 – Late last month a woman witnessed 2 dogs attacking another dog. Her boyfriend was able to scare the 2 dogs away and the dog being attacked, Joy, ran under a bush on their property, injured. The couple was too scared to handle a stray dog with injuries so they reached out to Make A Difference Rescue.
Joy was used for breeding, she had sagging nipples and her coat was in bad shape. She had bite wounds around her neck and ears and was just exhausted from the attack. The rescue got her to their vet where she was found to have several medical problems. First she’s heart worm positive, second she needs to be spayed, and third she has tumors on her paw that have to be removed and biopsied. And on top of all of that, she is between 8-9 years old. Our friend at the rescue told us that she is “about as sweet as they come”. The first priority is addressing the heart worm so we were contacted to see if we could help with that. We were happy to take care of that for this very sweet and abused animal.- diana
4paws1heart.org/donations/
Dash and The Knotted Needle – Getting Big and Strong; We Think His Leg Will Be Saved But He Will Need Prosthetics as He Grows
2/2/20 – A huge thank you to the Knotted Needle, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI for hosting an amazing fundraiser for 4 Paws 1 Heart. Dash was with us and he is so good and he’s getting so big. His foster, soon to be mom, is training him to be a therapy dog. ~ diana
Tango – Found on the Streets With Possible Parvo
1/31/20 – Please say a prayer for Tango. It is suspected that she contracted the Parvo Virus. She was rescued from the streets and we recently took care of her initial vetting including spay and vaccines but today she was taken into the hospital because of symptoms that mirror Parvo. ~ diana
4paws1heart.org/donations/
Bugs – Found on the Streets; Heart Worm Positive
1/28/20 – Bugs was found in a very dangerous neighborhood. With our help, Rebel Dogs Detroit took in Bugs and we agreed to pay for his medical. Unfortunately, Bugs was found positive for heart worm and 4 Paws 1 Heart paid for that as well as his neuter and vaccines. ~ diana
4paws1heart.org/donations/
Scarlett – Found on the Streets; Heart Worm Positive and Fungal/Bacterial Infections
1/27/20 – 
Meet Scarlett. She was rescued from the dangerous streets by Streethearts. This beautiful girl had fungal and bacterial infections in her feet and skin and was severely emaciated. She also tested positive for heart worm. Although we often hear about the dire straits for animals in Detroit, there are serious issues in Flint and Pontiac. We are thankful, that due to the generosity of our supporters, we could help by paying for Scarlett’s heart worm treatment. Thankfully, she is no longer on the streets fending for herself. Anyone interested in Scarlett should contact Streethearts. – diana
4paws1heart.org/donations/
Deevo – RIP – Rescued Before His Owner Took Him to a Shelter But He Couldn’t Be Saved
1/24/20 – RIP Deevo. As our followers know, we feel every animal (and human) deserves to be remembered when they leave this world. And, once again, it was humans who failed this very sweet little guy. On January 21, a friend of 4p1h intercepted Deevo when his ‘owner’ was going to take him to a local, high-kill municipal shelter. Yesterday afternoon I received an emergency call because Deevo had a seizure. Unfortunately, the rescuer did not have transportation and while we all worked to make that happen, Deevo continued to have seizures. With the help of Kimberly Willey, an amazing animal advocate, and the rescuer, Deevo was taken to an emergency hospital where he was immediately put on medications for the seizures and tested for distemper. Heartbreakingly, the seizures could not be stopped and Deevo passed during the night. The distemper test is still being processed and we should know by next week if it was distemper that killed this puppy. Distemper is highly contagious and it is why it’s so important that every animal be vaccinated. I’m sure he was the result of a backyard breeder and maybe was going to be ‘dumped’ because there were signs of medical issues already. We will never know but we do know that many tears were shed this morning. – diana
4paws1heart.org/donations/
Dahlia – Pulled from a Local Shelter With 3 Breaks in Her Tail
1/21/20 – Dahlia was pulled from a municipal shelter by a friend of 4p1h who we’ve worked with for a long time. She was very underweight. At first it was thought that she had ‘happy tail syndrome’. This occurs when a strong tail repeatedly hits solid objects with force during a wagging session, resulting in the thin skin of the tail splitting open. Dahlia was treated as directed but that didn’t work. She ended up chewing the end of her tail off. The rescuer then took her to two other doctors and it was finally determined that the tail was actually broken in 3 places. Dahlia was returned to her foster to heal and was later spayed. It took an extra long time to heal. Then Dahlia went to live with her rescuer. It was learned over the course of time that she was a ‘basement’ dog and had no real house manners. She is still learning. She is clumsy and has no boundaries. Her ears get infected often and she has a food allergy. Not many people want a dog with so many issues going on so she’s remained with the rescuer in hopes a forever home will some day be found.
A couple of weeks ago when she was getting her toenails cut, it was noticed that Dahlia seemed to be drooling a lot. It turned out that a canine tooth was bleeding. We were contacted and an appointment was made to have Dahlia see Dr. Zalac. Dr Z found 3 broken canines. Dahlia had surgery and is now doing well. Dahlia is in good hands. – diana
4paws1heart.org/donations/
P.O. Box 84, St. Clair Shores, MI 48080
Piper – Living in the Woods But Saved Through the Relentless Efforts of Two Women
1/17/20 – I know this story is a little long but this journey just needed to be shared. Thank God for the rescuers. I just can’t (and don’t want to) imagine what this dog has gone through in her life and what would have happened to her if these young women wouldn’t have been so dedicated. After hearing this story and seeing this beautiful face, I couldn’t say ‘no’. Please say a little prayer for a positive outcome and hug your fur baby just a little longer, and be thankful that your pet is warm and loved during what appears to be another tough weekend of cold and snow in our area. ~ diana
4paws1heart.org/donations/
“Good afternoon my name is Emily Schaff. I have recently taken in a stray dog who now goes by the name Piper. I am currently a nursing student and not working so I can focus on my studies. I was seeing if I could receive any assistance for vet bills for this poor pup. First let me tell you the story of this poor girl. July is when I first saw her. She is a polish hound or hound mix we believe. I would see her on my game cameras every once in awhile. I live in China,MI in the country. I kept seeing this dog and it broke my heart. The first photos from the game cameras showed how emaciated she was. Eventually neighbors in about a 5 square mile radius were seeing her. Another woman and myself posted pictures on Facebook and eventually we had a woman (Sharon Hansen) from macomb come out to help capture this girl. Just before my semester ended, the first week of December is when Sharon came out with a big live trap. During the week of my finals I would get up every morning and night to refresh the trap. We were close but unfortunately she never went in. The trap moved to various houses. We tried it at my house but still no luck. We made fliers and printed them off and handed them out. We were in touch with animal control the whole time. I gave up every single day of my break in between semesters trying to get her to safety. We wrote down all her sightings over the 5 week period to get an idea of her daily routes. We had feeding stations set up at my house in hopes we could get a different type of trap. It took her 3 weeks before she would even touch the food us humans left out for her. Last Tuesday was my last day I could devote to trying to capture her. So Sharon and I set up the collarum snare trap at 12pm. We said we would give it until 9pm since this trap had to be monitored the whole entire time it was set. At 8:40pm, 20 minutes before we were going to give up the trap went off!! I can’t even explain what I felt at that moment! I ran so fast to the back of the woods to that trap. I was so scared! Scared I’d didn’t work, scared she got out.. but when I walked up I saw this beautiful pup that stole my heart 7 months ago when I first saw her! I cried!! I couldn’t even believe that we finally got her on my last day! I was just in shock. She just stood there almost like she was relieved. It was a good thing we got her that night. It was so cold and windy that night. For 7 months at least this poor dog was all alone fighting to survive. There are so many coyotes in our area. I am grateful she survived. The next day we took her to animal control for vaccinations and then straight to the vet because we noticed her leg was injured. We got xrays done and the vet assumed she was hit by a car. She had a lot of scar tissue built up around her left hip and it was permanently dislocated. Riverview veterinary (Dr. Robyn) said she needed an FOH surgery. We did some research and decided to take her to see an orthopedic surgeon in Flint. His name is Dr. Degner. We see him February 7th at 11am. That was the soonest he could see her. That is her surgery consultation. Piper is estimated to only be a year to a year and a half old. Due to me being in school I am unable to pay for all of her vet bills. I started a little fundraiser on Facebook and have raised about $1,500 so far. I was hoping I could maybe receive some assistance for her. I just know that she deserves the surgery. She deserves to be in no pain. This poor girl has zero human contact, was outside her whole life, and was never shown love! I officially adopted her yesterday when her stray hold was up. I did her stray hold because I knew going to animal control for that would be too scary for her. It will take months for her to heal. Decompression for her will take a long time but I have so much time to devote to her. I love this girl with my entire heart. I want to give her a great life. I’ve already gotten to see her wag her tail for the first time (I cried) and she even tried to play. Right now she is taking pain meds to keep her comfortable until we see her surgeon. Thank you so incredibly much for considering us!
Emily Schaff and Piper”
