Happy Tails
Success stories from some of the most touching huskies we have taken in, cared for, and helped find their forever homes.
Ripley
Poor sweet Ripley came to us from Pinal County Animal Shelter where he was surrendered as an injured stray. He was shaved during intake, revealing injuries consistent with birdshot from a shotgun. An ultrasound showed he had no internal bleeding, which is a miracle based on what the x-rays showed! Ripley’s body was full of metal pellets from the birdshot. There were over a dozen pellets in his head alone.
Once we had Ripley stabilized, he went into surgery where our vet did an amazing job to remove what pellets he could. In several places the wounds had started to heal around the pellets, so after conferring with several specialists, our vet made the recommendation to leave those pellets in place–so in a way, Ripley is our very own man of steel!
And he truly is a superhero. His foster mama decided to adopt him to continue his care and help him recover. We are pleased to report this sweet, brave boy is thriving. We’re deeply grateful to everyone who donated toward his medical costs–we could not have saved him without you!
Shiloh
Unbelievably, six months after our first gunshot dog Ripley, we met Shiloh. Shiloh’s finders contacted one of our rescue partners in Clovis, NM saying: “husky has been shot in the mouth it’s got a hole where it comes in on one side and blowing the bullet out on the other side of his mouth some missing teeth it’s bleeding.”
We immediately worked to get Shiloh from Clovis, NM to our vet in Phoenix where he underwent facial reconstruction.
Despite his injuries, Shiloh never lost his good spirit and never stopped smiling! He now goes by Roswell, and was adopted by a local family who’s primary goal is to give him all the best life has to offer. Thank you to everyone who donated and contributed to this guy’s care!
Estrella
They say things come in threes…well 2021 brought us three dogs who were victims of human cruelty. Within a week of taking in Shiloh, and six months after saving Ripley, we were contacted about another dog–this time in Chandler–who had been shot in the face: Estrella.
This sweet, gentle soul was found hiding under a car, part of her jawbone dangling from the damage. The bullet passed through her tongue and out the bottom of her mouth, breaking her jawbone as it exited. Based on the bullet’s trajectory, it seems someone put a gun in her mouth and pulled the trigger.
Upon being found, she was taken to the Arizona Humane Society, who contacted AZ Husky Rescue. We took her to our vet to get her stabilized, which meant a feeding tube and plenty of medication to keep her comfortable until surgery. Our vet was able to repair her jaw and she went home to recover with her foster. Estrella’s biggest challenges during recovery were staying calm and taking it easy. All she wanted to do was play with her foster brother!
After taking the time she needed to heal, this sweet superstar of ours was adopted by her foster mama–the same foster who adopted one of our man of steel Ripley!
Estrella on the news:
Husky shot in the face making recovery
Shasta
It’s a story all too common: unattended pups ingesting something they shouldn’t. Unfortunately for little Shasta, he loved to chew anything and eat everything. He was surrendered to us after he’d already had one surgery to remove an intestinal blockage. He came to us severely underweight and in need of another abdominal surgery. The vet had to remove another blockage and approximately a foot and half of Shasta’s intestinal tract.
Despite it all, Shasta remained a quiet, loving, and playful pup. He still loves playing with toys, but only with supervision. He is a great dog who is only here because of your generous donations to his care. Thank you for helping so he can be here today!
Jareth
WOW! Where do we start with this guy?! Jareth was the first pup of Mama Lucy’s litter, and was born with a cleft lip. This little guy would never have survived if he was born to an uncaring backyard breeder or in a puppy mill. He required SO much extra effort to raise as a baby, including bottle feeding from Day 1. Due to the way his lip was shaped, he was unable to latch on and eat. Without diligent bottle feeding for the first 3 weeks of his life, he never would have made it.
It has been such a joy to watch this boy grow, and we’re so grateful to our vet who did an amazing job fixing his cleft lip. Jareth was adopted by a family committed to working with him through his healing journey. The only potential long-term complication for Jareth is slightly louder breathing.
Thank you so much to everyone for your support!
Max
Max joined us thanks to one of our amazing rescue partners in California. This poor guy is about six years old and spent his entire life pre-AZ Husky Rescue tied to a tree! Despite living outdoors with little human affection, Max is a total sweetheart who enjoys hanging out with other dogs and LOVES kids.
Thanks to his awesome foster, Max learned to love living indoors and now resides in Tucson with his adoptive family.
We’re so grateful for your donations that enable us to rescue dogs like Max. Thank you!
Tex
Tex is one of those special guys who you just can’t get out of your head. Tex is an older guy, a “distinguished gentleman” as we like to say, who had a nasty mass under his tail, failing hips, and overall was not in the best of shape, which landed him on the New Hope list at Maricopa County. The New Hope list includes dogs with behavior and/or medical needs that require rescue intervention.
Thanks to a devoted advocate and your support, we were able to get Tex to the vet to get the mass removed. and to get a full work-up on his conditions. He’s now recovering in his forever home! Don’t you just love a happy ending? We’re so glad we were able to provide a cushy retirement for this big lug.
Ace
Ace is a delightfully salty senior who was surrendered to the county shelter at 11 years old. Due to his age and medical needs, he ended up on the euthanasia list! We believe this guy still has a lot of life to live, so we rescued him and got to work. We had full bloodwork done on him and the only issue was high liver values, which we are trying to treat with supplements for now. We also completed an ultrasound and are pleased to report no major issues anywhere on his organs. He also was tested for Cushings Disease (negative) and had a full dental cleaning. He had a few warlock warts (which we see in our older, wizard-like dogs) and a small growth on his inner leg, which we had removed and tested. We’re pleased to report that none were cancerous.
It took us a while to place this guy, as he is a little choosy when it comes to friends. But patience pays off and he’s now enjoying his forever home.
Thank you to everyone who donated to help us care for this special senior boy.