Get your tissues ready for Annabelle’s story! This girl’s story starts off very sad, and heartbreaking, but her future is very bright!!!
Annabelle’s journey with Angels Rescue began when they received a letter from a concerned person in Alabama about a purebred Husky who had been severely neglected and could barely walk.
Portions of the letter Angels Rescue received about Annabelle and her story follows:
“The person who has this dog is an irresponsible pet owner. She always has many dogs and cats who just walk around outside her trailer and are not allowed inside.
She does not have a fence and ties some of the dogs to trees in the front yard. The trailer is only about 40 feet from a busy rural road and the animals are constantly getting run over and killed.
I first saw Annabelle last year after Christmas. She was a Christmas gift for her teenage daughter. Annabelle was a beautiful 6 week old purebred husky puppy with red/white markings and ice blue eyes. When I visited the home again 2 or 3 months later, I noticed the pup was limping. They said that they had “accidentally” run her over with their car in the driveway when she didn’t move in time.
Over the next few months I saw her limp getting worse and when I asked if they had taken her to the vet, they said no that it wasn’t necessary and that it was resolving on its’ own. In September when I was there, I was shocked at Anabelle’s appearance: she could hardly walk, was very skinny, her eyes were matted with green gunk, her skin had open sores and old scabs on it and she was listless. I asked them please if I could have her and take her to the vet. They said no that they were trying to breed her with their big male husky. I cried all the way home. You can imagine my surprise and elation when she texted me on November 10th, the day before my monthly visit, and said if I still wanted “that broke-down dog” I could have it for $150.
On Friday the 11th, I drove the 4 hours from my house to pick her up. She slept the entire way home.
I took her directly to my vet. They gave her a bath, medication, vaccinations, a HW test and fecal exam. She was so happy to be clean and getting some well-deserved and much needed medical attention!
However, her two front paws have old fractures in them and are in bad shape. The left one she never puts down and it has atrophied. The right one has been x-rayed and examined by their orthopedic specialist and she says it can be saved with surgery. The bad news is they expect the amputation and orthopedic surgery to run approximately $ 3,000. I am happy to be able to contribute towards her continuing care in addition to paying the bills for her care up to this point, but I simply cannot afford $3000 dollars. I still believe I did the right thing by taking her out of that horrible situation but I don’t know what else to do now.
The vet personnel said that she just was so happy to be getting attention and was very affectionate and leaning in to her to be petted. She sits at the front of the kennel run and whines for someone to pet her the rest of her day. I would be happy to bring her wherever I need to if you agree to accept her into your program. I believe God has another purpose for Annabelle and I was brought there to help her fulfill it. Thank you for your time and attention.”
This is where Angels Rescue stepped in. Angels administrators responded with:
“How can we NOT help this sweet girl?? We see all kinds of horrors in rescue, but the one thing that continues to surprise us daily is the unconditional love and forgiveness these dogs show despite the cruelty and neglect shown to them. This kind soul has done the hard work of rescuing Annabelle, Angels will raise the money to help Annabelle get the surgeries she needs have the kind of life she deserves!”
That’s when a wonderful “Angel” with AAU named Christie Williams stepped in! Christie became Annabelle’s foster and has been her “guardian angel” since Annabelle became an Angels furry baby! Christie says this about Annabelle:
“She is stunning & I can only imagine her as a puppy. She has brown & white markings & ice blue eyes. In addition to what we already knew about Annabelle’s life living in the trailer park and her injuries, in April an F5 tornado came through that small town in Alabama!! Can you imagine the terror of Annabelle having to hobble under the trailer with her other doggy friends? I thank God she survived!
Annabelle had her left front leg and shoulder amputated on Dec 21, 2011. It was a pretty shocking visual picking her up from the vet that night. She had a rough time for a few days but now she’s even more active than before. We are now at the point that we hope to be able to place her into a perfect “forever home” and she can get settled before we have her 2nd surgery done.
This picture is of Annabelle enjoying her bone Santa brought her for Christmas on Christmas Eve, 2011. We’re sure her 2012 Christmas pics will look much different for this awesome girl!
Her right front wrist is crooked and she has an “angular deformity” due to fractures that tried to heal on their own (picture taken pre-surgery). It is unusual that we would spend exorbitant amounts of money on one dog; however, everyone who meets Annabelle falls in love with her. Her spirit is amazing! It is so amazing to watch her use her nose to balance. It will cost us a small fortune to do the right wrist so we desperately need donations for this, but Angels does NOT leave their rescues “halfway fixed” – we see them through the entire process with the help and support in terms of donations from our wonderful supporters.
She will be spayed on Wednesday when her stitches are removed; otherwise, Annabelle is healthy now. It is surprising, given her circumstances, but she is heartworm negative!
Annabelle does very well inside. She can run up and down stairs, jumps on and off the bed and couch and is completely able to be a normal dog inside. She uses her nose for balance (very smart girl!). But maneuvering outside is a different story. She is unsure and has balance problems - the terrain and rocks frighten her (understandable).
Annabelle is potty trained (in spite of a couple of accidents), but whomever wants to love this girl forever will have to realize that she only goes outside to potty and is otherwise, an indoor dog. She plays with toys and enjoys life tremendously. She is a small dog at 30 lbs now and should never weigh more than 35 lbs because of her legs. Her weight must be monitored closely by her “forever” family.
She does have a bit of the husky behavior and uses her mouth to do a lot of things, which is typical husky behavior. She does great when crated now and just needs to be motivated with a treat to run right in. She does great with other dogs and tries to play with them, in spite of her limitations. We think she is a little over a year old now and she will make a wonderful companion, playmate and friend for that special “forever” owner and/or family!
If you are interested in meeting this wonderful little survivor, or may be considering opening your home to this wonderful girl, please contact me via email at: Christie@angelsrescue.org. Thank you!”
What a wonderful story of commitment, love and support for this precious girl known as “Annabelle”. But her story doesn’t end here – she still needs financial support, as well as a commitment from a loving home that would be just right for this sweet girl!
Angels has established a ChipIn for Annabelle on their website. You can reach it by clicking on this link: http://angelsamongus.chipin.com/annabelle. Please help AAU, if you can, by donating generously and often with tax-deductible monetary gifts that will go directly toward the exhorbitant surgery and vet care bills for Annabelle.
You can also continue to follow this sweet girl’s story by linking to her own Facebook page, at https://www.facebook.com/help%20annabelle#!/pages/Help-Annabelle/163925030372918.
The “heart” and path of rescue is never easy, and it takes a true spirit of commitment and love to see a special case such as precious Annabelle down her long road of recovery! She deserves so much better for the rest of her life than the horrible start she had! Won’t YOU be a part of Annabelle’s recovery by reaching out to her? Please commit to helping Angels make her future better than her past!! Thank you so much! Please keep Annabelle in your prayers and thoughts!
~ Rescue ONE Until There Are NONE ~
What a story…my heart breaks for poor Annabelle’s horrific beginnings. Thank God for her neighbor and for Angels Among Us Pet Rescue. I am sharing Annabelle’s story (and some Kleenex!) in the hopes of helping.
Our blog post about Annabelle, including the Chip-In link is now up. You can view it here: http://fivesibes.blogspot.com/2012/01/annabelles-rescue-story.html
Thank you so much for linking up with us to continue to tell sweet Annabelle’s story! We so much appreciate it, and she does, too!! We are hoping to be able to work with a wheelchair specialty company to make available a front-load wheelchair made especially for her, which will immediately help her with the balancing problem and will be a real Godsend when she has her 2nd surgery on the right front leg!
God is truly good and we thank Him for his mercies, and for sending wonderful people along to help spread her story and to help us find even more ways to aid and support this wonderful pup! God bless! Beth
More people read my FB page than my blog so i’ll post it there. in addition, i will be donating. I need to check with my husband, who’s traveling, on budget, but we’re both dog lovers and especially sibe lovers and this just breaks my heart.
Thank you so much, Julie! We really appreciate any and all help you can give us and sweet Annabelle. The outpouring for her story and plight has been overwhelming and the more places we can get her story out to, the better we’ll be able to help her!
Thanks again, and God Bless!
Beth Hale
BTW: my hubby replied yes of course. so i’ll post chip in soon, but quick question: has anyone brought up charges of animal abuse on that woman? that is indeed abusive and if the state has laws, i would have loved to have seen someone press charges. it’s disgusting. i look at my sibe and just get sick when i think of something like that happening. not that i don’t love all dogs, but this breed is one of the sweetest i’ve ever had. not an agressive bone in their body (ok except for prey animals, but hey they’re dogs). they really touch you. and i can’t imagine anyone being cruel to a sibe. i posted to my FB wall as well.It’s an honor to be a small part of her happy future.
Unfortunately for us, it wouldn’t be something we could follow through on, legally, at this point. Due to the way she came to Angels, it would be difficult, at best. The law takes the view that she wasn’t “intentionally or cruelly harmed” with the accidental running her over (although many of us would see it differently), so it would be hard to press any real charges although it seems like it would fit within the parameters of “animal cruelty” to leave her in the condition she was in.
Rather, Angels is trying to focus strictly on getting her well, getting her 2nd surgery done, getting her into a front-load wheelchair apparatus that will make her getting around outside a much easier process, then transitioning her into a loving, safe, understanding forever home with a family who will love and care for her wellbeing through the rest of her lifetime.
Thank you so much for any contributions toward sweet Annabelle, for sharing her story, and for loving and advocating for all beautiful fur babies who depend on us to help them have the best life possible!
Beth Hale