Ford was surrendered to the pound by his original owners on February 16th, 2010. They dropped him off with a piece of paper, his AKC registration papers, that's it. (We may not have any other info, but at least we have his date of birth - 10-17-05!) Because he was surrendered by his owners, "Ford" became available immediately for adoption. After an exam by the vet at the pound, they noted: "poss. abnormal alignment of rear legs, further medical evaluation needed. Aspiratory dyspnea (labored breathing). Stridor sounds were noted on bronchious and trachea. Dog it too excited to auscultation and becomes dyspneic if handled. Further testing needed to rule out other diseases." And so, the next morning, less than 24 hours from his arrival at the pound, "Ford" was adopted out on a medical release to the first party interested in him. Because of the very short amount of time Ford was in the pound, Adopt-A-Bull didn't find out about him until he was already adopted. We asked to be put in the records as a rescue hold just in case Ford was ever found his way to this pound again. Sure enough, less than 8 hours later, they called..... the "adopters" took Ford to their vet after realizing something was wrong with this dog. The vet said there was no fluid in his lungs, but that there was a huge food and gas bubble in his tummy and he desperately needed elongated soft palate at the very least. They did an x-ray we dropped everything and were on our way to the pound to get "Ford".

Right from the pound we headed to the hospital... a new hospital, one we had never been at before, they had late hours. We got there right before they closed. Ford was barely breathing, sounded extremely labored every breath he gasped for air, we were terrified, it was not good. Ford was examined and immediately put on oxygen, I was sent out of the room. The whole experience was not so pleasant, the new vet was rude and obviously cared about $$$ and not so much the dog. In the waiting area I called the pound, I needed more info to help this poor dog. Why was he surrendered? What is his background? Does he have a history of this type of breathing? Due to privacy issues, the pound director could not give me the contact info of Ford's original owner. They surrendered him with his papers, so I knew they would be an extreme help to us in this situation, if only we could communicate. The pound left a message for them.... still haven't heard anything. So, after an hour on oxygen, Ford was a tiny bit better, but still in bad shape. They wanted to refer us to the 24 hour emergency hospital down the street. (The one that charges a minimum of like $1200 per overnight stay... yeah, we know them very well unfortunately.) Instead, I took Ford home to my house. I converted up my husband's office to a little isolation room, although not 100% quarantined from the other dogs, it would have to do. I really believed that Ford was just stressed, nervous, anxious and paranoid from his whole experience over the last 2 days. Why spend any more money un-necessarily (money we don't even have) if all he needed was to chill out for a little bit, in a nice cold room without some much stimuli? I really thought that's all it was.... if he didn't get better in an hour, we'd go to the ER.

Ford got better as the night went on, although I didn't get much sleep, I knew he'd be okay. It was obvious he'd never been crated before, or even baby gated in a room - he'd bark, cry and throw a fit, starting the whole breathing problem all over again. He was stable and obviously feeling good enough to show me his stubborn bullie attitude the way he did all night; he just needs elongated soft palate surgery in the worst way possible. Overnight he barfed up a whole bunch of goodies too! We have an urgent surgery appointment with our specialist to get Ford the surgery he's needed all his life. With our rescue discount, it will cost us somewhere around $1000. Please Chip-in of you can.

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The vet said he was disappointed.... how such a cute bullie could have such an attitude. Big Daddy has never had his nails clipped (like ever) or his ears cleaned, or tail pocket flushed out/cleaned. He's hurting all over in these very sensitive areas and goes on the attack when anyone approaches his special spots. Right now, he's at the vet.... sedation isn't effective. Although risky, they are putting him totally under to examine him properly, clean him up and treat the infections. While under, they will go ahead and neuter him if they can. If you love squishy faces like we do, please "CHIP-IN" above and donate towards the vet bills for Big Daddy and his 27 bullie friends that are currently in our program :)

UPDATE as of 4:11pm: Vet just called.... Big Daddy is heartworm positive! We need funds now more than ever, even more than we thought. Please help our bullies, crosspost this link everywhere you can.

We have been crazy busy lately, attending to the needs of all the bullies in our program. We are in the process of building a new website and in the very near future, www.adoptabullrescue.com will have a new look and be completely restructured for your viewing pleasure. If you are not already one of our fans on facebook, join at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adopt-a-Bull-Rescue/306715079809?ref=mf . Hourly updates, status reports and the newest pictures of our avail-a-bull's past and present are announced directly to our facebook page. At this time, because it is much easier and faster to give updates remotely thru our blackberry devices right to facebook, this will be our main way of communicating with our followers. We will continue to update this blog frequently, but for now our efforts will be focused on maintaining our facebook page, (where we have close to 5,000 friends) and also updating the bio info on the dogs that you see on this site under Adopt-A-Bull's.

This weekend some of the Adopt-A-Bull clan is headed north for a Bullie Mommie Getaway weekend of fun in Orlando. We will be traveling with 8 bullies and 6 Bullie Mommie's to visit a few of our bullie friends in Orlando! There will be no updates posted to our site this weekend, we will, however, be on facebook! If you are in the Orlando area, and wish to attend our meetups (we will be having 2 events tomorrow and 1 on Sunday) please join our meetup group. There is a link on our homepage that says "Meetup."

Today is the first day of her new life, she just doesn't know it yet. Please keep this Momma in your prayers as you go about your weekend and remember the dogs less fortunate than the ones we call our own.

See you on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/adoptabull

Avva weighs 48.5 pounds and is in great health besides these pesky hookworms we're treating. And....today was Baxter's big day. He was dropped off at the vet this morning for his neuter and entropion eye surgery.

Update 2-3-10: Baxter's after pic has been added above to the right! Bax is ready for adoption!

I kept thinking about "Momma" all night long. When I woke up this morning, I called the shelter guy in charge on his cell phone and asked him to meet me at the shelter at 8:30am. I was her last hope, I knew it was meant to be when I met her yesterday 39 minutes before her time was up. (They were closed today, but he opened just for me to save Momma.) I called in a bit late to work and told them I'd be arriving with a special guest for the day.

Momma is absolutely precious! She is such a good girl, estimated by our vets to be around 3 years young. With her three toes and missing front tooth, she's still the most bull-ti-full pit-bull we've ever seen. We went to the vet today and had some tests run. Besides some superficial scrapes, hair loss and scabs, she is in good health and she is even 4dx heartworm negative!!! Her blood work is still pending and the vet detected a slight heart murmur, but over all, this girl is in good shape! She has the absolute best personality, and is quite the low-rider for a pit-bull. The vet staff commented on how low to the ground she was, and me, not knowing anything at all about how pits normally look was delighted to hear this. She's our first pit-bullie!!! Lol! I am so happy we were able to save her.

Thanks to Uncle Tom for fostering Truman, allowing a spot to open up at Mommie Erica's house for "Momma" to be quarantined!

Click Here to support our rescue buy purchasing one of our custom bullie calendars for a minimum donation of just $20.50 .

My trip to the local county shelter today left me heartbroken and teary-eyed (as usual). So many dogs, mixes, mutts, and pure breeds - it's so astonishing and sad. The shelter workers have hard jobs to do, I swear if I worked here I'd be even more of an emotional mess than I am already ;) So many dogs, unsterilized, without manners, barking uncontrollably, pacing in their runs, acting out. Others quiet and scared, well behaved and sweet natured sitting in the corner of their cold cells unaware of the eminent danger that hangs over their lives. A younger gentleman approached the front desk, cash in hand, ready to pay his fines in order to reclaim his impounded dog and accept a county citation issued for his dog being at large. Just hours earlier a pure bred 2 year old English Bulldog, who looked more like a pot bellied pig than anything, found her way to the shelter after the landscaper accidently left the gate open. Her time in the shelter was just a couple hours before her mommie came to get her out, but others spend days (their last days) in this place. Yes, I am taking about innocent dogs being euthanized. These dogs, some perfectly healthy, trained, well behaved, and housebroken, are being put to sleep due to lack of space. For whatever reason they found their way to the shelter; whether picked up as a stray running loose, as innocent victims of foreclosure, or dumped because of the financial stress their owners face, these dogs are innocent - it is NOT their fault, yet they pay the price WITH THEIR LIVES!

When I visited the Broward County shelter Pompano Beach location today, I observed that most of the dogs there I\were in fact pitt mixes. They each have their own story, and even though I did not know their history, I am sure that at some point in their younger days they were once some family's beloved puppy. So how did they end up here? I will never know, I can only speculate, but I CAN help make a difference. A momma pit-bull caught my eye as I made my way down thru the kennel runs. Despite the yelping, barking, obnoxious dogs on either side of her, she maintained her calm poise. She came to the front of her run as I peered in to get a better look. Her nipples were big and sagging.... it was apparant she gave birth recently. Where were her babies I wondered? Could this have been a case where she was disposed of by her owners only after she gave them pups, putting money in their pocket? After she was of no further use to them did they dispose of her? Her kennel card said she came to the shelter as a stray on 1-6-10. "Momma" wiggled her butt and repeatedly brushed her boney sides on the front of the cage door. Dying for just a scratch or to be petted, I couldn't reach my hand in to stroke her no matter how much I wanted, it was against the rules, I didn't want to get in trouble. Tears in my eyes, I had to move on.... The next dog didn't look so adoptable, growling at me with his teeth showing, the next had "ADOPTED" written on his kennel card... YEY! Someone wanted him and put a deposit for when he was ready to be released - my heart was happy again! Then another...."ADOPTED!" I made my way back down the kennels to make an exit. I wanted to end this visit on a happy note for a change, after all, I was just there to drop off some donations and to look, nothing more. But as I passed by "Momma" she looked at me with such sad eyes.... she had a look that killed me inside. I had to do something, so I took some pictures to crosspost online and get the word out. Momma and her friends were running on limited time, I knew that. Please, please, please, in my head I prayed that people would consider a visit to their local shelter instead of going to the pet store or a breeder. These dogs need a home more than anything - their LIFE depends on it! If just one of my posts gets forwarded and crossposted, maybe, just maybe I could assist in saving one. Just one... If I could I'd take them all, God knows I would. We have 29 in the program right now, all our foster homes are full, we even have our newest shelter bullie from yesterday in the quarantine shed. (Oh, Truman, you are such a good boy!) We have to make a way.... what's one more I think, as I try to convince myself. Convincing hubby, on the other hand will be a bigger struggle. Let's just stick with the pictures I tell myself.

On the way out, I write down "Momma's" ID number. She doesn't have a name, only a number to identify her, how sad. I talk to the guy in charge on the way out, asking him to put Adopt-A-Bull Rescue as a rescue contact just in case she's in danger of losing her life. Just in case, it comes down to life or death for her, I wanted to know....or maybe I didn't. Shockingly I was informed that she was already in danger!!! Her 72 hours were up already! She was in danger of being euthanized at any moment!!! She came in with no tags, no microchip or tattoo, no collar or anything... her legal time was 72 hours, 3 days, not including they day of admittance. Today was her 4th day.... It was execution day!!!! It was 3:21pm exactly, I remember because my next question prompted me to look down at my watch. I asked what time they closed........ 4:00pm. I had 39 minutes to figure something out.... .... .... ....

The "guy in charge" told me he'd be most appreciative if I could find a way to save her. He said he'd hold her one more day and postpone putting her to sleep to give me time to figure something out overnight. I asked if I could spend some time with her outside, maybe take her for a walk. We spent a good 30 minutes outside walking around together and cuddling. She really was well behaved and so so so sweet. I snapped some pics of her and we sat down together for some bonding time. It was really cold outside and although I didn't want to return her to her cell, I had to... for now at least. And so, I sit her on my laptop, crying my eyes out just trying to compose this plea to save "Momma." The shelter is closed on Monday and Tuesdays but he said he'd meet me back here tomorrow and open up if I could find a way to rescue her. I left with his personal cell phone number in my hand and the burning image of "Momma" marked in my head. I don't know what it is about this dog, but something is telling me to take action - Her life depends on it. Every one already thinks "Adopt-A-Bull Rescue" is a pit-bull rescue instead of an English Bulldog Rescue, so what if we rescued our first pit?........ to be continued tomorrow. I must start crossposting and making some phone calls.....

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