Animal Rescue Foundation – Doggie Smile of the Month
Astrid was rescued on January 7th, 2014 at 3 months old. We received a call about an injured puppy and went out to see how we could help her. It is likely her injuries were due to an attack by another animal. She had several injuries to her back legs and immediately received surgery on puncture wounds.
After more than a month of recovery, Astrid’s leg just wasn’t healing the way it should, so we brought her to a specialist to see if there were any other underlying conditions that needed treatment. After x-rays and close examination, we found out that Astrid also has a torn cruciate ligament in her back leg. Due to some muscle atrophy around the injury site, it seems like this injury was an injury that occurred previous to the attack.
Astrid faced TPLO surgery – a very intensive, precise surgery that needs to be performed by an orthopedic surgeon. Post surgery, Astrid had about 12-16 weeks of recovery. This is extremely hard on such a young puppy because they are essentially missing out on all kinds of socialization time. Astrid received all kids of interactive toy donations and was being fostered in a house hold with children, other dogs and multiple different animals.
After several weeks of recovery, Astrid’s foster home (one of our long-time supporters and foster homes) decided that they just couldn’t part with her and officially adopted her. Astrid is super happy in her new home, with her doggy sisters and the rest of their human family!
ABOUT ARF: The Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) of Alberta is a volunteer-based, no-kill organization and is a registered non-profit charity. ARF rescues dogs and cats from First Nations communities and rural areas and places them in temporary foster homes where they are vaccinated, de-wormed and spayed/neutered prior to adoption. If the animal is injured or has an underlying medical condition, the dog or cat is fully treated by a qualified veterinarian while in ARF’s care. ARF also provides spay/neuter and educational programs to residents of First Nations communities as part of the effort to reduce the population of unwanted animals.
ARF’s foster homes are our lifeline. They are dedicated to the socialization and adoption of their foster dogs and cats and are vitally important to our program. Most of the animals that are rescued have never lived indoors or received any training. Our experienced foster homes have the capabilities, resources and understanding required to rehabilitate animals that would otherwise be deemed un-adoptable.
Since inception in 1995, ARF has successfully re-homed over 1,450 cats and 4,000 dogs.
For more information on the Animal Rescue Foundation, or how you can become involved, visit our website at arf.ab.ca
