Let me tell you about a dog named Lore:

Lore was picked up as a stray in the city of St Louis Mo in Nov 2024 and brought to CARE STL, a local animal rescue. Lore was in bad shape - very thin, a back leg that was swollen and non weight bearing, teeth that had been filed down to nubs or were missing all together, intact and his face/paws were stained a deep shade of red. He has been through some very bad things.

At CARE STL Lore was neutered and placed in the system, one of hundreds hoping to find a safe landing spot; preferably for forever. But right away shelter staff knew that he wouldn't survive in this environment; he was displaying severe anxiety and stress..it took no time at all for Lore to be placed on the Preventing Euthanasia list, he needed out immediately. A couple people answered the call and took Lore for short weekend stays and reported back wonderful things aside from his anxieties and serious toy fixation. But these short stays would end and back to CARE Lore went, to dive headfirst back into the mental breakdown the shelter brought on.

I had seen pics, videos and the pleas for help with Lore, he was on my mind the entire month of December...so on January 4 2025 I picked Lore up and he came home to live with me and my resident dog Devi as a foster; I was committed to him staying until his forever family showed up.

It only took 2 days before I realized that Lore was sick and I was not given accurate information about his health status from CARE. I reached out to the medical staff at the shelter and let them know he has a persistent cough and his back leg was swollen and non weight bearing. They were unconcerned with the cough because he didn't have nasal discharge so bordetella was not of issue; therefore not something they were interested in discussing. When asked about his leg I was informed it was a torn ACL and imaging had been done. Support was not given. I requested carprofen at minimum and they filled that request.

I continued to reach out about his cough as it progressed and became productive; no response; no support. Finally I sent a sound clip of the cough and I was granted an appt with the clinic. They brought him back for my requested heartworm test and sure enough it was positive. I was told right there by the shelter employee that they had no intention of treating him; there were many other HW+ dogs in CARE and they could not treat him. I was floored - this dog is up for adoption, actively in foster care and you are prepared to let him be adopted with a life threatening condition or allow him to die slowly in my home or at the shelter. Again, no support from staff.

The reality of the situation sank in quickly; Lore is going to die.

I reached out to my vet to see if we could do treatment; despite not having one red cent to put towards a high medical needs dog...we had to move forward. Due to his foster status my vet team could not do anything without approval from CARE. I immediately sent the release to medical and explained the prompt need for this approval...only to be ignored. Over. And over. And over again. After two weeks I decided I had to adopt him to save him, what other options were there and at this point Lore had been in my care progressively getting sicker for three months.

It only took shelter staff 30 minutes to return my message about finalizing the adoption. It was done.

Once adoption was paid and finalized I requested his complete medical records; you are not privy to them prior to adoption and waiving CARE from any responsibility. I also had to request copies of the xray imaging they said was done on his leg showing the cruciate ligament, twice. Much to my surprise the records showed that Lore was in bad shape and also that he was NOT heartworm tested upon intake but was given a heartworm preventable; which could have had some seriously grave side effects with his positive status.

The imaging of his leg proved that he had a fracture upon intake, not a cruciate ligament. It also showed that he had advanced dental disease as well. They were aware of his health status and failed him, repeatedly. I was in shock with what the road ahead looked like for us...and then we rallied and got busy.

Lore bravely completed his heartworm treatments on June 3rd. Unfortunately as of now blood work is still showing baby heartworms so we are awaiting some 2nd opinions on how to proceed from here. We recently did xrays on his leg to see how the fracture healed and why it seems to still be presenting him with issues and again, the results were not favorable. I opted to send them off to an orthopedic specialist for consult. There is a fear of possibly cancer due to the bone imaging we are seeing; best case is arthritis so severe it's presenting like something more diabolical. I am awaiting that meeting with the Ortho to know what is next.

Our first task is the heartworms 100% because he can't go under anesthesia to work on his mouth or open his leg until his heart and lungs are healthy. Time is working quickly and because of that so do we. The road ahead is going to be costly, it takes my breath away and scares me...the road behind is already paved with good intentions and a care credit card with a little wiggle room. So I humbly ask for help - leaning heavily on a community of animal lovers, second chance givers, dreamers and well wishers. A call out to The Village.

If you can give, please know that every dollar makes a huge difference, every share helps bring visibility to how valuable and precious his life is; because Lore is magic masquerading as a dog.

His medical bills have topped $2500 so far and will only continue mounting. He is also on daily meds for pain management and anxiety, frankly his care is expensive.

Now that you know the nitty gritty, can I tell you about Lore - the behind the scenes stuff that reminds us all why we do this? Yeah, ok cool - he is a DREAMBOAT! Let me holler that form the mountaintops! This boy has endured and still remains full of love and a want to be loved. From day one we have battled his anxieties and fixations; through routine, structure, patience and meeting needs relentlessly, he can self soothe now and is able to pull himself out of a hectic moment with just some easy guidance from me. He is now fully potty trained (not an easy feat for an 8yr old male dog) and Lore is the best communicator when its time to go! He loves his toys and can now be near them without being obsessed and fixated. Lore enjoys my resident dog but he also doesn't allow anyone to push him around, so they exist with baby gates and structure for now but will absolutely live together freely one day; he clearly feels safe and happy with this setup as I believe Lore was used as a bait dog.

In the six months with me I have watched Lore just erupt into this absolute funny man! He's learned to play by himself, play with someone, give me his belly (which I cant hardly walk by now without him rolling over for some belly rubs:), LOVES kisses, car rides, songs sung to him, peanut butter...ALL THE PEANUT BUTTER and sleeping under a ceiling fan on high. It's been an absolute honor to walk this path with him and for him; regardless of what happens this has been my biggest act of mothering to date and I would do it all over again...in a heartbeat. Lore has changed the landscape of my heart and home, he landed right smack n the middle of forever.

With love and gratitude - Lore and his Momma <3