Hi, I'm Liz. I'm a photographer. In 2009, I spent part of the summer volunteering at the Sean Casey Animal Shelter in Brooklyn, a no-kill facility where I'd spend weekends helping out walking dogs. That fall, the rescue center asked if I would photograph some of their animals for their adoption site.
I was introduced to Wally by another volunteer at the shelter who'd been fostering him. Wally was a four-year old Pekingese mix who we were told suffers from intervertebral disk disease and would probably require future surgical intervention. At the time, however, both the shelter experts and specialists advised that, since Wally wasn't showing signs of pain or discomfort, we should take a conservative approach and not rush into unnecessary surgery.
Wally has been a happy and productive member of our family now for almost a year—he even gets along great with all our cats!
This past August, we took Wally to a friend's house upstate for a barbecue. There were five other dogs in attendance and one of them clamped his jaws around Wally's neck. We intervened to try to separate the dogs, but Wally wound up badly yanked around when we tried to pick him up and the other dog wouldn't let go.
Wally suffered a ruptured disk, was completely unable to walk, and was in a great deal of pain. The veterinarian prescribed a course of painkillers and steroids. After a week of heavy medication, he seemed to have recovered, but about a month afterwards, Wally suffered another episode—he became very reluctant to get up, struggled to walk, and would lie in his bed crying all night.
On September 22nd, we took Wally to VERG in Brooklyn, where Wally had major back surgery. The vets were able to remove about 75% of the ruptured disk material.
The surgery cost $4,500 and we're looking for a way to defray the cost. We've set up a Paypal account, and there's a donation button on the right.
In the meantime, we'll be posting photos and stories about Wally and his ongoing recovery.
Thank you for reading and please spread the word!
· Sean Casey Animal Rescue
