Mentorship Update

 This is Lassie. She was brought in to the Southern California Animal Hospital a while back after her owners accidentally ran her over. She had a broken tail and a shattered right hip and leg. Dr. Kumar (the attending doctor) amputated her tail because it was too damaged to ever function again. The doctor attempted to re-build Lassie's hip using a metal plate, but her hip was too damaged to reconstruct. Lassie's owners were going to euthanize her because they didn't want to deal with any more surgeries, but Dr. Kumar decided to take her in and amputate her right leg. Amputation meant that Lassie would have to learn how to walk all over again, but at least she would have a chance to try.

 This was Lassie's first attempt at learning to walk again. She is really timid so she was having a difficult time being outside in a new environment, but she did manage to get a few steps in.

 This cutie pie is Shelia. She is a rescue dog who is currently being housed at the hospital because she had a serious case of Mange. Some of the patches of missing hair is still visible on her back. Shelia has a long way to go due to the serious condition of Mange, but she still a happy and out going puppy none the less.

 This little guy is Oscar; he was originally brought in with his other brothers and sisters for treatment of Parvo, but after the Parvo was treated, he developed a pneumonia which actually become more life threatening than the Parvo. In this picture, he is hooked up to an IV to keep him from becoming dehydrated. In the bottom picture, I was feeding him a high nutrient paste because he couldn't eat solid foods. Last time I saw Oscar, he was hooked up to an IV and also had oxygen tubes. I still don't know what happened to Oscar, but hopefully he is better and living a happy puppy life.

My pants are as baggy as a cholo's in this picture, but the dog I'm holding is Bobbie. He is also a rescue dog that is staying at the hospital. Many of the volunteers, including myself, take some of the rescue dogs being house at the hospital out for walks and work with them on training and behavior issues to help them get adopted.