Kingley, a very noble 7 year old purebred male golden, was found walking the streets of downtown Atlanta. After exploring the sites, he settled on the front lawn of a very kind man who knew he was a special dog. He tried to come into his house but the resident pitbulls didn’t like Kingsley. Kingsley was scared so he wouldn’t leave the man’s carport. The man went to the local animal shelter with Kingsley and was told that Kingsley would be put down because he was brought in (versus being picked up by animal control) and he was “older.” Upon hearing that the man put Kingsley back in his car and searched us out. On February 2nd, he drove over 50 miles to deliver Kingsley to us and made sure he was safe before he left. We went directly to the vet. The next day we heard the bad news. Kingsley was found to have Stage 2 heartworms, intestinal worms and indications of kidney disease as well as being unneutered. At first it was thought he could not be treated for heartworms or be neutered as his kidneys would not be strong enough to tolerate either the heartworm treatment or anesthesia. It was a death sentence which we would not accept. We asked the vet to help us find a solution.
The Vet found research that suggested that the heartworms could be causing he abnormal kidney function and that unless he was treated for the heartworms it would only get worse. So we rolled the dice and treated him for heartworms. Well, he made it through that treatment and is now heartworm free! But his kidney function did not improve. He still needed care for that problem which included special food and fluids injected under his skin three times a week to help his kidneys fuction properly. His care cost over $2,000 and it didn’t matter that we fell short on our fundraising for him. This special dog became one of our SPECIAL NEEDS dogs. We needed to find a special home for him… a family who could take care of him. We knew if we could get Kingsley to adoption day, he would sell himself. He is so friendly and loves everybody and everything—even cats! Well, it happened. A couple walked in looking for a very different kind of dog. Then they met Kingsley. He has a new Mom and Dad, 2 kids and 3 cats: Stanley, Cleo and Isabella. But make no bones about it – the King of the House is Kingsley.