I am Heather, a receptionist at Birdneck Animal Hospital, and this is my pet adoption story. Scuffy is a 4 year old Shih-Tzu mix who was rescued from Richmond, VA. Kelley, our veterinary technician here at Birdneck Animal Hospital, has a friend who was doing work on a home after it was damaged by fire. Fortunately, Scuffy survived the fire thanks to his doggy door. Scuffy's previous owners traveled often and did not have the time to give Scuffy the love and attention he deserved. Kelley's friend told the owners about a local dog rescue league, started by a former employee of Birdneck Animal Hospital, called the K-Nine Justice league. The owners agreed that if would be better to find a home for Scuffy where he can live with owners who have the proper time for him. Coincidentally, I had lost 2 dogs previously in a house fire, and was looking for another dog.
I agreed to foster Scruffy. It seems that it was just meant to be! Scuffy recently had surgery on his eye, and he is healing well. The struggles aren't over yet though, for my poor Scuffy. He was recently diagnosed as heart worm positive, a disease easily preventable with one monthly dose of heart worm prevention. He will begin the heart worm treatment as soon as he is completely recovered from his eye surgery. The treatment process to kill the heart worms takes about six months. I can not officially adopt him until he is finished with the treatment, but I will continue to take care of him throughout the process. Scuffy has become attached to me and follows me everywhere! I am looking forward to giving him a loving, caring forever home.