Bionic Blue

We didn't have time to mention Lolo this week with all the Wilkesboro news going around. This blue beauty just got two new knees! - a first for our organization. The double TPLO - Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy - was the most we've spent on a homeless dog, but it was just too hard to say 'No' and put this girl to sleep. Lolo is a "foreclosure orphan" who got bumped out onto the street right along with her owner and his worldly possessions. The older African American gentleman cried when they took her away to the shelter; a volunteer who happened on the scene watched him crumble under the realization that his home was gone and his dog was probably going to die. She was already limping when we met her - a really bad thing for a dog in a shelter full of homeless blue pit bulls. Ugh. But, lookit this dog....


Her second knee blew out not too long after. It was destined to; she was born with a limited warrantee on those shaky joints and it ran out while she was trying to keep herself entertained in her kennel. These are the times when I really kick myself for getting into this work. What the hec was I thinking? This is insane. The seed money from her Christmas donor and from Paco's friends was a great start, but not nearly enough to fix two wobbly, throbbing knees, and Lolo's pain was getting worse.

Turns out Jonny Justice's adopters have racked up quite a few good karma points (not surprising) and used some of it to help out the blue princess. Their vet heard their plea and offered to give Lolo some new knees at a greatly reduced price. Dr. Richard Schwach has a strong handshake and he loves talking about this particular surgery. You can tell it still fascinates him; a good sign. He worked on her for almost 3 hours on Tuesday as part of a fast-moving team of four. Three hours to open, assess, measure, saw bone at just the right angle, fasten a plate & screws, sew her up and repeat on the second knee. She walked out the clinic door that evening. Yes - she walked outta there!

For the next 6-8 weeks, her foster parents Jamel and Letti (more Vick dog karma) and helpers Peter and Danae will be trying to keep Lolo from moving too fast or doing zoomies and all those other things our breed loves to do to celebrate a good day. Not easy!

I have the idea that, even if her former owner never sees her again, the fact that she's still alive will somehow broadcast good fortune to him - wherever he is. We take on very few of these heroic type cases because we hate to tap out our donors and we have a relatively tight budget, but this one really cost us, so if you can afford to help us out with this one we would be forever grateful. Thank you. And monster thanks to Avenues Pet Hospital and Dr. Schwach for being one of the good guys.

To donate to BR's medical fund:

Or, send a check to BAD RAP- Lolo Fund
P.O. Box 320776
San Francisco, CA 94132-0776

Thank you!!