Sadie's Story

This is Sadie, "the playful, fun-loving, sweet girl" I thought I was adopting. I adopted Sadie on 4/22/23 from Peyton's Place Animal Rescue based out of Sewell, NJ. On 4/23/23 she was at an emergency vet. I ignored the red flags when I met her, how lethargic she was, the excessive drooling, and most importantly, she wouldn't get up to walk. The foster said, "She's shy, and we think she has a stomach ache, she just started limping this morning". I knew in my gut something was wrong, and I left with her anyway, the foster's husband carrying her to my car.

When I got her home, I realized this was a much bigger issue, Sadie could barely walk. I immediately notified the rescue and the foster, both of whom claimed to not know of any issues. By Saturday night, she was drooling excessively, panting heavily and had a fever. I decided she needed to get into a vet ASAP and let the rescue know I would be taking her in the morning.

After a thorough exam, the vet found she has a torn trachea, likely from when she was intubated when spayed more than two weeks ago, on 4/11. She had a hospital stay and received IV fluids, medication and rest. I kept the rescue updated. I receive a phone call from the Director's husband, and explained what was going on. After consideration, and speaking with the Doctor and her team, we decided her best chance of surviving this was staying with me. She was left in pain, undiagnosed for two weeks with her foster, dying. Sadie was so weak and so dehydrated she couldn't even hold herself up to pee.

New Jersey doesn't have any laws protecting a person who adopts an animal from a rescue. My only option would be to turn her back to the rescue and receive the adoption fee back. That isn't happening and I am already financially invested in her treatment. I proposed to the rescue that they pay this one vet bill for the hospital stay, they can keep the adoption fee since I'm keeping her and I will take the responsibility moving forward for her care, I also requested her vet paperwork, rabies vaccination and microchip registration. As of today, 4/26, they have not let me know if they are willing to help, they have also not sent me any of her paperwork. I am asking for help with her treatment and recovery, she has a long road ahead, she's still very sick and very depressed, she may need surgery, she might not even survive this, but she deserves a chance, and I'm going to give it to her no matter what.

This link will take you to a video of her "walking" when I brought her home.

Video of Sadie Walking

This one will take you to a video of her trying to breathe.

Sadie Coughing