#GivingTuesday / Story One: Preston

#GivingTuesday
Story one. 11.25.17

It was January of 2016 and a call came in from a volunteer in Florida that a very large Old English Bulldog was about to be euthanized and would I please save him. I received a picture of a very emaciated dog with one eye and the deepest sadness in his face. To add insult to injury his name was Zombie. His then owner had carried him into a high kill shelter and asked for him to be put to sleep. Thankfully a volunteer at the shelter knew the person with whom we worked and Zombie, also known as Kujo, became a VEBR child, so to speak.

He was immediately renamed Preston giving him freedom from ridicule and laughter for others at his expense. We transferred him to a private hospital where his eye injury was treated in the hopes of saving his one eye, his skin infections were treated with daily medicated baths, he could not be neutered as his overall health was so poor.

Preston underwent surgery on both ears to address long- standing infections and he was vet boarded for six weeks just resting and receiving round-the-clock care. At six weeks Preston was well enough to transport to Vermont.

He would undergo surgery to remove his severely damaged eye and neuter. Preston’s life hung by a tenuous thread for weeks. His veterinary bills would top $4000 and as fast as that tally went up so did our love for him and total, all-in devotion to his survival and quality of life.

The day that this boy was finally cleared for adoption was one of the most joyous and heartbreaking, as we had to release our grip on him and trust that the Belanger family would do everything that we could not going forward.

Today Preston is part of a family who loves him unconditionally. He’s safe, pampered and will never know fear, ridicule or uncertainly ever again.