Freddie, whose pre-rescue name was “Oso”, came to us via a convoluted chain of caring good samaritans. He was scrounging food in the streets of a town named San Martin Jilotepeque, about one and a half hours from Antigua when a volunteer team working with a group called Hug it Forward spotted him. He would have been hard to miss, as in addition to being filthy, matted, and completely ratty looking, one of his forelegs had been broken and set on it’s own, with the foot pointing backward, forcing him to walk on the back of his wrist. He had actually lost his two middle toes from dragging them on the pavement.
Seeing him struggle to survive in this condition broke hearts, and one of the team members contacted another Montrealer living in Antigua, who just happened to be one of our volunteers. Pooling resources, Marjolaine Perrault drove to the town to pick Freddie up and bring him back to Antigua for treatment. This was more complicated than originally thought, as it seemed that Freddie had a family who suddenly decided that they wanted him! In the end, they surrendered Freddie to Marjolaine and she brought him home.
After evaluation, our veterinarian confirmed that there was no way to save Freddie’s leg, and it had to be amputated. He is very thin and in poor condition, so needed some recovery time before his surgery. He did well at the rescue and put on three pounds in his first week with us. His surgery was performed March 30, 2015. He moved to a foster home with volunteer Michelle Bungay and family where he lived for several months to recover after his surgery.
Freddie is a Spaniel mix, and he is a beautiful dog now that he is healthy and his coat has grown in. We think he is between three and four years old. He is very sweet and friendly to all, and loves nothing more than gentle petting and cuddles. He is great with kids and with dogs he knows, but is reactive to strange dogs on the street.
The volunteer team who found Freddie raised money to help us with his medical costs, and we are very grateful to them for this support. Freddie is being adopted by one of the team members and will be flying to Anchorage, Alaska soon to join his family there.
