Miley's Story
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Miley's Sponsors!
Caron Sarver, CBR
Volunteer and owner of
Beagles-on-the-Web, called Susan O'Brien, VP of
CBR-West to tell her of a sad story of a little beagle girl who needed
help. You see, "Laura", a compassionate shelter
volunteer in a Pennsylvania shelter, reached out to Caron and told her about Miley, hoping for help. Miley has a spinal cord injury from an
unknown source, but most likely from being hit by a car. We all know
that these types of cases don't have much of a chance in the shelter
system. But this sweet girl had spunk. She had drive.
And she had the will to live. She was about a year old and
if....if only....if only someone could take her and get her the help
she needed to be able to walk and run like she deserved to. It
only took Susan about a minute and half to say, "YES WE WILL" .
She was assigned CBR Case# B30508 and her transport was set in motion.
CBR-West has experience with spinal cord injury beagles, such as the infamous
Braveheart (now called Sebastian). We have systems in place for
these types of dogs...but funding is another story. They are
expensive to help but worth every cent and somehow, our wonderful
supporters make miracles happen. In Miley's case, she can stand
very strongly on her front legs, but her rear legs collapse under her
when she tries to take more than a step or two. Since she is so
puppy-like, she will try to start running, then when her legs give
out, she'll go sliding across the floor. (see photos below) She
also has limited control of her bladder and bowels, but our experience
with spinal cord injuries tell us this will improve with therapy too.
Susan had to figure a way
to get her to Portland, OR, the CBR
headquarters. She reached out to CBR-East volunteers, located in
PA and NJ and immediately Cheryl K. offered to help......a
choreographed ballet between East and West chapters began with a
common goal to help a little beagle in trouble.
Cheryl jumped into action and first picked up Miley from Laura at the
shelter. Then off to the vet for paperwork. She even
fostered her for 2 days, during which time calls were flying back and
forth arranging flights. A ground transport was simply too long
and would be too difficult for Miley. On April 25, 2008 Miss
Miley left the wonderful care of CBR-East volunteer Cheryl, and
several hours later arrived at United Airlines Cargo at PDX to the
open arms of Susan O'Brien and Michelle Dodgson (*B.A.R.C.
Director). Miley is the first beagle in history
to have been fostered by east coast and west coast chapter volunteers!
The next step was to have
our vets examine her. On April 26, xrays were taken and it
appears that she does have an injury to the thoracic area of her
spinal cord. The extent of the damage cannot be seen in an xray.
An MRI is required at a cost of approx. $1,800. Furthermore,
veterinary rehabilitation is needed to help her regain her balance and
learn to walk properly again.
Miley needs you....CBR
needs you. We need to raise at least $2,500 for Miley..can
you help?
(* B.A.R.C. stands for
"Beagles Across R Country", a CBR program of air-transporting beagles
in need) |