ABTR American Boston Terrier Rescue  
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*Lost Bostons*
Lois went missing on May 12, 2010 in Anna, Texas. More info here.
Lady Bug went missing in May, 2010 in Easton, MA. More info here.


Lutie ready to go to new home

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Please adopt me, I'm ready to go to my new home


Vote for A Chance for Bliss

Please help A Chance for Bliss win this contest as they help very old horses, dogs, etc to have a loving place to live out their lives and they can use the money as feeding and caring for these animals is expensive as we all know. As they are a sanctuary only they depend upon donations so winning this Grant would help them tremendously.

Place your vote here for this wonderful animal sanctuary to receive a $50k grant from Pepsi. Remember once you sign-in, you need to click on the "vote for thisidea" button again or your vote won't get counted.
Hooray for Nicky!

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Nicky finally found his forever home!


Begin each day of 2010 with a Boston!


ABTR's annual calendars are now available for purchase, and they make really wonderful holiday gifts, so be sure to stockup.

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LITTLE PEBBLES
Austin Boston with Heartworms

People wonder why I am so adamant about heartworm preventative! This is precisely why!

Elaine my Austin volunteer went and pulled this sweet boy.

Elaine says: Quote: Sad news about the poor little one from TLAC. I named him Little Pebbles after the street where he was found. I took him straight to the emergency vet from the shelter. His abdomen was really swollen and he could barely walk, but was a sweetheart the whole time. Evaluation showed that he was in the last stages of heart failure. TLAC had drained more than a liter of fluid last night, but I think it was all back this afternoon. Even if we had drained it again, it would have returned. The right side of his heart was basically non-functioning and the fluids which should have been distributed by the heart could only accumulate in the rest of his body. All this damage had been done by the heartworms which now filled his heart and he was having trouble just breathing from the pressure on his lungs.

Surgery would require opening the jugular vein and manually extracting the worms. This is done at very few places in Texas, mainly A&M vet school. The emergency vet estimated this could run as much as $6,000 or more. And of course the poor boy most likely wouldn't have survived the surgery. So we made the tough decision to end his suffering. I will bury him in my pet cemetery in the back yard. May he rest in peace. I know he has lots of loving company at the rainbow bridge.

Another sad ending that could have been averted if his owners had only given him regular preventative. I'll forward some photos tomorrow; he was quite handsome. It's strange, but a rescue friend had just sent me a video of the surgery that Little Pebbles would have had to undergo. The Lab involved couldn't be sedated and only had a local for the surgery. You can hear the vet and nurses talking while the vet is pulling the worms from the heart. It's very graphic, but I wish we could make everyone who decides not to use heartworm preventative on their dog watch it.

Please send your kind thoughts and prayers to Little Pebbles. He didn't deserve to suffer and die like this, but hopefully he was comfortable with hugs and kisses at the end.

Elaine

Wanda's note: Elaine was wonderful to hold and cuddle this sweet boy at the end so he was not alone or in a shelter when he passed. This poor boy was only 8 years old. He should not have passed this early. Heartworms is not an easy death as you can see from what Elaine has written. What she didn't write is that when they get this bad the heart has enlarged significantly and is pressing on the lungs making breathing difficult. I am sure you know someone who has heart and lung problems and how much pain and suffering they are enduring often for quite some time before the end of their lives. This is not something that a sweet dog should have to endure when it is so easily prevented.

INFORMATION ABOUT HEARTWORM TREATMENT

GRAPHIC VIDEO SHOWING HEARTWORM REMOVAL!



IF YOU LOVE YOUR DOG,
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE,
ALWAYS USE HEARTWORM PREVENTATIVE!!!

So folks, as you can see with having the Tequila family and their surgery, all the extra dogs 3 surgeries for Twitter, and this little one who didn't make it, we need some donations!!! We would appreciate any help you can send our way. Thank you. .

If you want to send a donation directly to our vet send to:

Grand Avenue Animal Clinic
822 N. Grand Avenue
GAINESVILLE, TX 76240
Please Make a note it is IN MEMORY OF ABTR's Little Pebbles from Austin -

Thank you so much. IF you want to send a check directly to me rather than using paypal you can mail to

ABTR
P.O. Box 525
Sanger TX 76266

Thank you again for your prayers for this poor little boy and for your support for ABTR and our mission to save Bostons. HUGS
Wanda

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Graphics may not be used in any form without written permission from ABTR.
If you like our new graphics, I suggest you contact LILI CHIN and
if you indicate AMERICAN BOSTON TERRIER RESCUE, she will donate a portion of her proceeds from your drawing back to ABTR.