The Official FC Pets & Animals thread

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VaporsVaporizer

On the Stoop

VaporsVaporizer

On the Stoop
In case some of you are wondering what my rescue group does, this is just one story from this past year. Not all rescues have a happy ending...

This year, we have come to the rescue in various ways for our animals. Reagan's story is just one example of why we've been working hard to reach our fundraising goal for this year's Strut Your Mutt event with Best Friends Animal Society. We still have a long way to go, and we hope you'll keep reading and consider supporting us and animals like her.

Reagan had fallen from a building on the Lower East Side. When a man began hitting her with a brick in an attempt to "end her misery," a good samaritan intervened and she was rushed to a vet hospital where a friend of RZ reached out to us for help. We agreed, and supported her through emergency care including a transfusion and a chest tap (to remove air outside her lungs). With the help of our friends at Worth Street Veterinary Center, she was soon en route to The Animal Medical Center to have her fractured pelvis examined by specialists. But what started as a hopeful team effort soon took a devastating turn when we learned that Reagan had lost much of her nerve function and had little chance left to live a normal, quality life.

With our vet by our side, we made the difficult decision to say goodbye to her -- but together we found comfort in the fact that we were able to provide her with love, care, respect - and the chance that she deserved.

Rescue is not always easy, but it will make life easier for every animal we reach. As a volunteer-run 501c3 organization, this is our passion project. Please help us continue to face this challenging work head-on as we save animals from overcrowded shelter systems in the NYC area and expand our reach to NJ and VA.

Rescuzilla tends to take older animals out of the shelter since they have the worst time getting adopted. That usually means big veterinary bills for teeth cleaning and lumps and bumps removal etc. Some of the animals we've rescued really need more than that done , like Zucchini who needed an eye removed and Milli who had to have a leg amputated. Not every animal we rescue needs such drastic medical care , but they all need something like neutering and vaccinations and microchips & fostering and food bills. It takes a village.

This was Reagan
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Milli on the left
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Zucchini
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Reflections

Well-Known Member
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Freedom and Jeff

Freedom and I have been together 11 years this summer. She came in as a
baby in 1998 with two broken wings. Her left wing doesn't open all the way
even after surgery, it was broken in 4 places. She's my baby.



When Freedom came in, she could not stand and both wings were broken. She
was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance
at life, so I took her to the vet's office. From then on, I was always
around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and it was
loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay in.



I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and she would
lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes. We also had to tube feed
her for weeks. This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't
stand. It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if
she couldn't stand in a week. You know you don't want to cross that line
between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning.



She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on
that Thursday afternoon. I didn't want to go to the center that Thursday,
because I couldn't bear the thought of her being euthanized; but I went
anyway, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I went
immediately back to her cage; and there she was, standing on her own, a big
beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I was just about in tears by then.


That was a very good day. We knew she could never fly, so the director asked
me to glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and
we started doing education programs for schools in western Washington. We
wound up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV. Miracle
Pets even did a show about us.


In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. I had
stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so I wound up
doing 8 months of chemo. Lost the hair - the whole bit. I missed a lot of
work.


When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey and take Freedom out for
walks. Freedom would also come to me in my dreams and help me fight the
cancer. This happened time and time again.


Fast forward to November 2000. The day after Thanksgiving, I went in for my
last checkup. I was told that if the cancer was not all gone after 8 rounds
of chemo, then my last option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did
the tests; and I had to come back Monday for the results. I went in Monday,
and I was told that all the cancer was gone.

So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out for
a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her up, and
we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn't said a word to Freedom,
but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped both her wings around me
to where I could feel them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle
wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and
we just stood there like that for I don't know how long.


That was a magic moment. We have been soul mates ever since she came in.
This is a very special bird.


On a side note: I have had people who were sick come up to us when we are
out, and Freedom has some kind of hold on them. I once had a guy who was
terminal come up to us and I let him hold her. His knees just about buckled
and he swore he could feel her power course through his body. I have so many
stories like that.


I never forget the honor I have of being so close to such a magnificent
spirit as Freedom
 
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