Critical Care Gallery (2022)
See the Animals Your Donations Helped Save!
I’m Lala. Thank you for helping me. Please read my story below.
You Helped Save
1200
Animals in Need During 2022!
Check out their their tragedy to triumph stories
Our Critical Care Program cases are all desperate animals
that have been victims of cruelty, abuse, abandonment and extreme medical neglect.
Click on each pet’s name to reveal their extraordinary story and photos. Each heart tugging situation has a happy ending, thanks to folks like you.
This is just a small glimpse of the many animals rescued by our PACC911 Coalition partners this past year. These stories show how your donations help us make a powerful difference turning around the lives of abused, abandoned and neglected pets in our community.
The 2022 Before and After Stories!
GIO - Abandoned in his senior years
PACC911 Partner: Boxer Luv
The tragic story of so many animals impacted by the pandemic, Gio was left behind in his senior years when his owners moved out of state after losing their jobs and home. Without warning his whole family was gone. Everything and everyone he had known and loved disappeared overnight. He was alone, terrified and depressed. Once beautiful, this boy was now thin and sickly with masses covering his fragile body.
Boxer Luv knew they had to help get Gio get the care he so desperately needed and turned to our Critical Care Program. Immediately hospitalized, his diagnosis was grim. He was anemic with severe dental disease, valley fever and malignant tumors. His advanced age, at the height of a boxer’s life expectancy, complicated his chances.
A fighter, nowhere near the end of life, this brave dog conquered his many battles once he received excellent medical care and he bounced back to good health, ready to live.
His foster family madly fell in love with Gio and could not give him up. Years earlier had lost several dogs in a tragedy and resolved to turn that blow into a triumph, helping other dogs in need. Gio found his forever after loving home.
GUS - Alone, emaciated with a broken leg and festering wounds
PACC911 Partner: Aussie and Friends
Who could do this? Why? What happened?
Starving and emaciated. Infected lesions from untreated Valley Fever. Festering infections in both ears. A broken back leg never attended to and now beyond repair. What happened to him? We will never know.
Gus was in such horrifying condition that when Aussie and Friends stepped in to rescue him, he was rushed to the hospital without a moment to spare. Their mission was to save him and change the course of his life, for the pain this poor dog endured had to be unimaginable.
With help from PACC911’s Critical Care Program, Aussie and Friends watched with joy as Gus slowly transformed from a sick, frightened, lonely dog to a pain free and happy boy. Enjoying his life of good food, daily walks, playing with other dogs and lots of love from everyone, his confidence grew. Gus knew that he finally mattered. His transformation from misery to love and happiness happened only because of the miracle of rescue.
HOLLY - In brutal pain from a horrifying leg break
PACC911 Partner: Two Chihuahuas Rescue
Her past is unknown. We can only imagine the brutal pain she endured and terror she felt by the condition she was in upon her arrival to MCACC. Holly was dragging both hind legs to move forward, and a gaping open wound on her back leg wasn’t seen immediately. Her original injuries were old, but this wound was fresh and severe, with bone protruding.
Two Chihuahuas Rescue did not waste a minute of time. With help from PACC911’s Critical Care Program they rushed this tiny angel to the emergency hospital where she underwent six weeks of bandages to allow tissue healing before surgery. Because her back leg lost all feeling, a partial amputation was recommended to allow her to retain some support for the wheelchair she would need. She also received physical therapy to strengthen her remaining back leg.
Holly would have been euthanized had not Two Chihuahuas invested in her future. PACC911’s Critical Care program helped give Holly a chance to experience the full love and life she deserves.
IVY - Abused by attackers for the "fun" of it
PACC911 Partner: Independence Day Rescue
Just one year old, dirty, injured and underweight, this poor lab wandered the streets of Mexico in excruciating pain. Miserable, she was taunted and abused daily by those who bring harm to innocent animals just for the fun of it.
Having been brutalized on the streets for sport, Ivy was a challenge to trap. Terrified, she avoided humans at all costs. Ultimately her rescuers prevailed and she was saved.
Many medical issues explained her pain. A broken jaw from an old injury healed incorrectly causing a life-long deformity. Severe and painful dental disease prevented her from eating. A massive infestation of ticks left her ravaged with tick fever.
After hearing her heart-wrenching story, Independence Day Rescue arranged her transport to Arizona. PACC911 assisted through our Critical Care Program, intent on delivering Ivy to a new and better life.
Once frightened and shut down, Ivy became docile when she felt the gentle touch of her loving rescuers. She embraced all who worked to relieve her painful conditions. Knowing she was finally safe, Ivy’s fear turned to a joy felt by everyone she met on her journey. She now enjoys a new safe, happy life that she could never before have imagined.
LALA - Living on the tracks, hours from death
PACC911 Partner: 2nd Change Rescue
A stray pitbull tried to find warmth on a discarded piece of insulation as she barely stayed alive at a construction site. Workers sometimes threw food scraps her way, but she wouldn’t eat. Emaciated, growing weaker each day, her life was in peril. Her owners were nowhere to be found, which was not surprising as many of these dogs are simply throw aways.
As she quickly deteriorated, good Samaritans took her to MCACC to get urgently needed medical care. X-rays revealed a large stomach mass. Starving to death, she was scheduled for euthanasia unless immediately pulled by a rescue group. 2nd Chance Rescue didn’t hesitate to reach out to our Critical Care Program to help Lala receive the care she needed.
Surgery revealed Lala’s intestines were folded over, stopping her blood circulation. She wouldn’t have survived one more day without her life-saving operation, received just in the nick of time. Half of her intestines were removed and Lala survived.
Now living at 2nd Chance Rescue, this magnificent pitbull is fully recovered. She shows her gratitude daily with kisses, wags and wiggles bestowed on those who stepped up to save her life. For the rest of her days, Lala will enjoy the luxuries she had never imagined before. Soft beds, good food, toys and most of all, lots and lots of love.
MANGO - Tiny, helpless, scared and alone on the mean streets
PACC911 Partner: Sky Sanctuary
Mango fought for survival each day. A tiny chihuahua mix, terrified, helpless, alone on the streets, she was found by a good samaritan who brought her to MCACC. In horrifying condition, she was quickly placed on the euthanasia list. Our partner Sky Sanctuary was determined to save her and turned to our Critical Care Program for help. We stepped in to assist.
Rushed to the hospital for costly but desperately needed medical tests, results showed multiple life-threatening conditions. The most pressing issue was heart failure and her future was a gamble.
While she only knew a life of being abandoned and horribly sick, Mango’s special spirit touched everyone. While her veterinary team drained accumulated fluid from her horribly distended abdomen, she bravely wagged her tail, inspiring everyone. Mango knew that someone finally cared; she wanted to live and be loved. Everyone she met fell for this happy dog.
Sky Sanctuary decided to make her a hospice dog getting the medications, special diet and love for whatever time she had left. She now lives in her loving hospice foster home with our PACC911 Vice President Tina Lopez. Everyday she smiles, plays with her new siblings and knows she is so very special and deeply loved.
TEQQUILA- Too sick to stand, covered in maggots and wounds
PACC911 Partner: 2 Chihuahuas Rescue
(In Memoriam)
Arriving at MCACC with a head wound infested with maggots, ulcerated masses and open wounds along her body, Tequilla could barely stand or walk. The shelter team flushed her injuries, wrapped her bleeding wounds and in this condition put her up for adoption.
No one came for her as she competed with 150 other dogs who shared the adoption portal. She waited a month while her masses continued to grow.
PACC911 partner Two Chihuahuas Rescue could stand it no longer. They took her in. By now an enlarged leg tumor threatened her entire limb, which was oozing blood during dressing changes. She needed urgent medical care and PACC911’s Critical Care Program was ready for her.
The operation saved her leg from a golf ball sized tumor, but the biopsy tragically confirmed the presence of cancer. A medically experienced foster or adoptive family had to be found, never an easy task.
Miraculously she was placed with a family who could provide both the love and medical care she desperately needed. Tequila experienced the comfort and joys she never knew existed and so richly deserved—love, toys and Puppuccinos.
While our beloved girl crossed the rainbow bridge in May of 2022, in her final months Tequilla experienced the life she so richly deserved, deeply loved and happy.