After rescuing Izzy (my current foster dog) from living chained outside and neglected, she unfortunately tested positive for Heartworm. It's a tragic blow, but is treatable as long as we caught it quickly enough. Only time will tell.

For the last few weeks Izzy has been waiting. There is currently a shortage of Heartworm medication and we have anxiously been awaiting her name to come up on the waiting list. Today we got the call and she has her first treatment scheduled for Monday, April 5th.

She has a long battle ahead of her. It starts on Monday with an injection into her lower back and the whole process will take a minimum of 2 months. The treatment is often quite painful and is uncomfortable for some time after. Her activity level will need to be very restricted. If she gets too excited and active, it can increase the risk

Izzy is a 3 year old, blind in one eye, adorably sweet Rottweiler/Labrador Retriever mix. She was rescued on a Humane Investigation where she had been living her life chained outside with inadequate shelter, food and water. I took her in as a foster and every day since she has pleasantly surprised me. I have fostered many dogs who had only known life on a chain and there is generally an initial period of helping them get accustomed to living inside a house. For some this is lengthier than others, but they all have been wholeheartedly grateful for the safety and extra attention they receive living inside with people.

With Izzy it has been no different, but I noted from the start that she has a remarkable learning curve. Her main goal in life is to make people happy. She doesn't always know how to do that, but she is determined

On many occasions I have had the opportunity to assist a friend of mine, a fellow Humane Investigator, in checking on the animals in a very hairy part of town on the south side of the city. The streets are lined with dilapidated homes - many burned out or collapsed and prime targets for drug dealers and other such illegal characters. It's the kind of town you usually go out of your way to drive "around" rather than "through" if it happens to fall along your route of travel.

In this town I have seen some of the worst of the worst of animal abuse and neglect cases. Dog fighting is a popular "sport" in the area and the status quo is to keep your dog tied on a heavy chain, provide little to no shelter and give food and water only when it's convenient to do so.

It's here where Izzy was found chained to a fence with only an

Chase is Miniature Poodle who is barely 2 years old.  I originally found him while on patrol with my fellow Humane Investigator.  He was filthy, covered in huge mats all over his body and was running loose in a rough neighborhood.  We chased him for blocks until he made his way back home.  After speaking with his owners (who, I might add, weren't too concerned that he was running in traffic) we discovered that their 9 year old son was Chase's sole caretaker and he was quickly loosing interest in the dog.  They decided he was just too much trouble and chose to give him up for adoption.

I decided to foster him and the first night I had him, it took 2 1/2 hours to leash him up and take him outside.  He was terrified and was being very protective of himself.  It was clear he had been shown little to no compassion from