The Albie Fund

About a year ago, Dan Heiskell was driving on a busy highway in West Virginia when he spotted a little brown and white dog trapped between the guard rail and traffic. The dog was  malnourished, dehydrated, and covered with fleas, flies and ticks.   He pulled over to the opposite side of the road and watched the dog cower as cars and trucks went whizzing by just a few inches from him.  As soon as there was a break in traffic he opened the door to his truck and the dog started walking across the road to meet him.  When Dan picked him up mud and muck was dripping off of him and flies were coming out of his fur.  It was if the dog was a wet, gooey, muddy, sponge.  It was  a Sunday evening, and dark was closing in.  There was no other option but to take this scared, pathetic hound back to Louisville.  After seeing a vet in Louisville, the doctor determined Albie was most likely a breeder from a puppy mill and was abandoned, due to his age.  With help from many loving and generous friends, Albie was house broken and trained and really starting to thrive as an indoor dog.  A couple weeks ago Albie started showing signs of severe neck pain.  Three Veterinarians all suspected the same thing:  a cervical disc problem.  Unfortunately Albie was in too much pain to even be put in a position where a neck X-ray could be performed.  That procedure might even make his condition worse.  The treatment they were advised to try was a tincture of time and medicine with no activity - no walking, no jumping on furniture and confined to a small space with only 3 potty breaks a day.   Initially all parties concerned said it would likely take three weeks to heal, if after three weeks he wasn't better then surgical intervention would be required. The pain escalated to the point Albie couldn't even sit down or lie down without crying and screaming in pain.  Dan and Theo had to hand feed him very soft homemade dog food.  Even though Albie was miserable for 14 days, he never tried to bite.  Some dogs would have.  The last night at Dan's place he stood all night and cried.   He was so exhausted, each time he started to drift off asleep while standing he would start to fall over, and then he would scream.  It was awful.    Medication wasn't helping manage the poor pooch, narcotics, steroids, muscle relaxants and even morphine had no effect... and  he was only getting worse.  Dan, with the help of his son tried to heal him over this two week period, but couldn't let the dog suffer anymore.  He was losing weight and getting weaker.  What was amazing is this dog just learned how to be potty trained and he did not have any accidents until the last 24 hours.  He tried so hard to be a good dog.  Albie's pain was too much and they ran out of options. So Dan and his son took him to an animal hospital where they admitted him as an emergency patient.  What it boils down to is, the only options are euthanasia, or surgery.   Albie will need to be sedated and given a $2000 CT scan.  If the scan shows surgery is likely to provide a good outcome, they will immediately operate.  If surgery is not viable or success is unlikely, Albie will stay alseep forever...  Over the past 10 months Albie grew quite a presence on Dan's Facebook page.  He has become somewhat of a celebrity and enjoys his status and attention he gets whenever they venture out in public.  Albie is a sweet gentle soul who even got beat up by a 12 year old 10 pound little mutt with no teeth.  He just laid on his back and howled!  None of Dan's friends and family, want to see Albie put down.  Most of them have encouraged Dan to seek a surgical solution.  That solution alone, not considering after care and other expenses will cost between $5500 and $6500.  So if you would like to help Dan with this financial burden it would be greatly appreciated.  Anything donated to this fund will directly go to Metropolitan Veterinary Specialist in Louisville to pay for the surgery, boarding fees, medication costs, testing, etc.  It is likely  Albie will need a foster family or another forever home after surgery.  Because of Dan's situation he is unable to provide the care Albie will need over the ensuing months.  If we go above and beyond our goal, all extra proceeds will be donated either to Friends of Metro Animal Services (which is now a no kill shelter) or The Arrow Fund which helps abused, tortured and severely injured dogs. Unfortunately, we will never know what Albie has been through throughout his life, but we can make a difference now. Anything and everything helps. If you find it in your heart to donate, I know Albie will never forget your kindness. Let's show Albie the love he may have never had before!