Kung Fu Panda
UPDATE: Panda has had his first surgery and is in recovery presently, but he’s not out of the woods – PANDA NEEDS ADDITIONAL SURGERY to enable the freedom from pain that will allow him to live life with the same physical exuberance that his personality demands. Let’s get this boy rescued the way he should have been the first time! Read his full story below.
This is Panda. Panda came to us from the Animal Shelter in Washington County, Oregon but Panda’s story didn’t start there…
Panda was found, on November 6, 2018, in a field in Madera County, California. The shelter named him Kimbo. When arriving at the shelter he weighed 58 pounds. Panda was rescued by a large Portland-based rescue on December 2, 2018. Panda checked in at 56 pounds and was noted as being normal weight. Intake notes also indicate hair loss, dirty ears, ocular discharge, bloody stool, and notes about arthritis and mild lameness. Panda was adopted from the shelter by a woman named Gladys on or around December 12, 2018. Around February 24, 2019, he was found wandering in Beaverton, Oregon. He was dirty with hair loss and raw, flaky skin. Panda was thin enough that you could feel and see his spine. Panda’s finder took him to have his chip scanned and it came back to his adopter. All attempts to contact Gladys were made by the vet, the Portland rescue, and Bonnie Hayes and they all fell on deaf ears, no reply from the adopter.
We were contacted by the finder to help Panda. We contacted the Portland rescue but they didn’t want him back and said we were welcome to keep him. We offered to take Panda into our rescue as a “stray hold” since the finder couldn’t keep him. Washington County refused to allow us to do that. According to the Washington County shelter, Oregon law states that only the finder or shelter can keep him and there is a minimum of 10 days in the shelter or 90 days with the finder before rescue/rehome. Since the finder couldn’t keep him, there was no option but to tell the finder to take Panda to the shelter.
A couple of days before the end of his stray hold in Washington County shelter we received a call from a representative from the Portland rescue asking if we wanted to take Panda. They didn’t outright say they didn’t want him this time but it is definitely the impression that we got. We picked up Panda on Saturday, March 9, 2019. Panda is terribly underweight and still at 56 pounds which is sort of baffling to us since his notes say he was at a normal weight. His skin still dry, flaky, and painful; lots of lumps, bumps, owies, and hair loss. He has an eye infection, ear infections, and bloody stool. How did he come from the shelter like this? How were all of these symptoms still an issue even after cleared for adoption from the Portland rescue? And then there is his “mild lameness”. The look on our vet’s face when checking out Panda’s knees said it all. Panda’s knees are in terrible condition and he needs surgery on both knees.
I don’t know how long Panda was with his adopter, Gladys, but it could not have been long. There is no perfect system but I wonder about the vetting process for adopters. This boy is the sweetest most gentle dog we have ever met. There is no reason a responsible adopter would have not wanted him. Of course, a responsible adopter would not have left him to run the streets. My other question is this, how did he leave a large Portland Rescue organization without getting complete care for his ailments? We would never send a dog home with an adopter in this condition. This boy has so much life and love in him and we will get him healthy and find him a family to care for him for the rest of his life.
If you would like to help us cover the cost of Panda’s care please donate to Match Made in Heaven Animal Rescue. You can make donations through Facebook, Venmo ( @MMiHRescue ), Cash app ( $MMiHRescue) or through PayPal to matchmadeinheavenrescue@gmail.com