When Ollie, a ten-year-old sheltie stopped eating and found it difficult to walk, no one could figure out what was wrong with him — even the veterinarians. When it seemed as if the kindest thing to do was put Ollie out of his misery, fate — or luck — intervened.

Before the final act of injecting Ollie with the drugs that would allow him to painlessly die, the vet and a visiting veterinary student, Neena Golden, were petting him and comforting him. Both still struggled to understand “why an otherwise healthy dog was experiencing paralysis.” Neena noticed that there was a tick near Ollie’s ears. Apparently, even though Ollie had been wearing a tick collar, a tick had attached itself to Ollie during a recent camping trip.

Dr. Stone examined the tick and the area and in the press release from the veterinary hospital, wrote:

“The tick was very bloated, and there was lots of fecal material from the tick. It had obviously been there for a while.”

Before the camping trip, Ollie had been the picture of health. And once he began showing symptoms of an illness, his family didn’t wait to start having tests done. But all the blood tests, urinalysis, and X-rays didn’t show any reason for Ollie’s symptoms. They tried medication but it didn’t help. When Ollie couldn’t eat, walk or defecate on his own, the heartbroken family had to make a decision.

Luckily, once the vet students found the tick, the veterinarian remembered a rare condition that can be caused by a tick that he had heard about in vet school.

This rare but very real condition can occur, wrote the clinic: “…when the saliva secreted by the tick gets into the dog’s system over a prolonged period of time. It affects the dog’s neurological system and can cause paralysis. Only certain species of ticks can cause this damage, and removing the tick is completely curative.”

The hospital staff shaved Ollie to make sure there were no more ticks anywhere on his body. Once the family learned that this might be the issue, they took him home. Only 10 hours later, Ollie showed almost miraculous signs of improvement.

The press release has a happy ending. “Today, Ollie is back to normal – lively, active and ready to embark on his next outdoor adventure. Al plans to use a tick collar as well as ingestible tick prevention for their next excursion, per Dr. Stone’s recommendation.”

Please remember that your dogs and cats need to be not just on a heartworm preventative, but also on a flea and tick preventative. It might just save their lives!

Henry was a young, sweet dog who was gentle and friendly. He seemed to get along with other dogs. In short, the kind of dog who would easily find a home. Yet “was” is the correct tense to use regarding sweet Henry because he was killed at the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center. The volunteer group Rescue Me Tampa will always wonder if they could have saved him — had the shelter just shared the information about Henry with them. They wrote:

“RIP Little Henry !! We are so sorry! We know with a last call you would have gotten a foster, you deserved a rescue of foster plea. YOU were so sweet and perfect! Volunteers loved you. You deserved a chance, at the very least an email. Our hearts are completely broken tonight.”

Until this month, Rescue Me Tampa (RMT) would have been able to get the report with Henry on the “euth” list for the next day. They would have sent out Facebook pleas for a foster home for Henry. He had a upper respiratory infection, and space in the isolation unit is limited. Often, with a 10-day foster, a dog’s life is saved.

But Henry didn’t get that opportunity. Because of a software change, the shelter isn’t providing RMT with the information they need to save lives. In a previous article, “Dogs are needlessly dying; rescue group needs information to save them” this issue was addressed. The shelter communications representative called this writer to address some “inaccuracies” in the story.

However, after asking several pointed questions about shelter operations, this staff member could not give an answer to even one of the questions. She said she would get some answers and send a response. That was a week ago. Nothing has been received.

So, the questions remain. Why is the shelter not doing everything in its power to get these life-saving volunteers (who work each and every night, unpaid, unseen) the information they need? If the software isn’t in place, why isn’t the shelter director himself getting together the kill list and information about each of the dogs on that list and sending it to RMT?

The shelter director, Scott Trebatoski, is very concerned with the “numbers” and the no-kill statistics. But that didn’t help Henry, or dogs like him who are going to fall through the cracks.

Another question is why the shelter is closing off access to the outdoor runs where dogs typically urinate and defecate? They are now closing off that access at 3:00 in the afternoon and not opening the doors again until 6:00 the next morning. No house trained dog can last that long. So dogs who may enter the shelter house trained will be forced to defecate in their living area. Or try to hold it for 15 long hours.

See also “Shelter director on the hot seat.”

Please take a moment to remember Henry — the dog who might have been saved, but who didn’t get a chance. He was ID#A1640335. Henry was at Hillsborough County Animal Services. Their phone number is 813-744-5660. Feel free to call and let the director, Scott Trebatoski, know how important it is that Rescue Me Tampa get the information they need to save lives. Be polite. Or read the first article (linked above) and write letters to the county commissioners about this. Please be an advocate for those who can’t speak.

Please note: Shelter director Scott Trebotski commented on this article. He wrote: “Henry was diagnosed with bacterial Pneumonia by the veterinary staff and was unresponsive to medical treatment. The veterinarian felt he was suffering and euthanized the dog for medical reasons. This dog would not have been treated any differently under the old reports or the new ones – this was a medical decision.”

Also note a post on Facebook about Trebotski’s post: “Henry was seen by a shelter vet on Monday. He was diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia. The director responded to the article stating that Henry was euthanized because he was not responding to treatment! Seen on Monday. Euthanized on Monday before 4. How did he have time to respond to treatment??? I was called by shelter representative to let me know Henry was euthanized. Why was I called? I had expressed interest in fostering Henry.”

Please also note that when a dog is killed because of medical reasons (or aggression), that death does not count as a dog killed under “no kill” statistics. So theoretically, a shelter could kill 50% of its dogs for medical reasons and still claim a 90% save rate — not suggesting that this is what Hillsborough County is doing, just a comment.

(Please note: This is a reprint from an article previously published on Examiner.com)

Local rescuers have been saying that the policies and procedures at the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center in Tampa, Florida, are inhumane. Now, Steve Andrews of NewsChannel 8 has exposed some more of the shelter’s sordid story.

In his recent investigation, titled “Local shelter adopts pets to violent offenders,” Andrews exposes the fact that the shelter will adopt dogs to anyone — including people who just got out of jail. Violent offenders, felons, all are allowed to adopt as many dogs as they want. The list of those enjoined from owning animals is rarely up-to-date. While adopting out as many animals as possible — and to anyone — may make shelter numbers look good, this is hardly good for the animals. (See also: “Convicted dog fighters can adopt dogs from county shelter with failed policies.”)

The local rescuers have complained that Trebatoski’s only goal is to make the numbers look good. And they say he does it any way he can. They claim that people who find a stray dog have been told to let them go on the streets. By reducing intake and keeping the numbers artificially low, the shelter can tweak the numbers to make their “no-kill” statistics look better. Another Florida shelter, the Miami Dade Animal Services, has been accused of doing the same thing.

But Steve Andrews found out more about the less-than-ethical practices of the county shelter. In another piece of excellent investigative reporting, “Hillsborough Pet Resources director kills roosters, allegedly violates county policy,” Andrews reports that Trebatoski allegedly killed roosters using a method that was against the shelter policy. The former animal control director of Pet Services, Pam Perry, told Andrews that Trebatoski violated shelter protocol during his first week on the job. Instead of tranquilizing the roosters before injecting them with the substance that kills them, he injected it directly into a vein at the back of the roosters’ neck.

In the news clip, Trebatoski denies that he knew about that policy when he did that. Perry states unequivocally that she told him before he did it. Recently, an animal control officer was demoted for doing the same thing. Now, Pet Services is saying that the animal control officer was not demoted for the act, but rather for not following his supervisor’s direction.

“Dogs are needlessly dying; rescue group needs information to save them” shares the information that the shelter is not providing the important information to the volunteer group Rescue Me Tampa to enable them to save the lives of the dogs at the shelter. After this article was posted on Examiner.com, the shelter’s Senior Media Relations Specialist, Communications and Digital Media, Kara Walker contacted this writer. She wanted to share “clarifications and corrections” to that article. During the course of our conversation, she was unable to answer any of the questions that were raised. She stated that she would get the answers and share them. She has not done so yet.

On the other hand, a recent piece in the Tampa Bay Times called “Kill rate in Hillsborough animal shelters down substantially, officials say,” is hardly an investigative piece. In fact, its picture, according to a local animal activist, is several years old. She posted on Facebook, “Put your waders on. The first problem is Scott never goes in the kennels. This is the same pic that was used a few years ago. This was a PR piece because the truth is coming out.” What Tampa Bay Times published appears to be a public relations ploy for Scott Trebatoski. But it won’t change the facts.