This is our boy Phoenix. When he came to us we were determined to give him a new beginning. Hence his name, Phoenix – it means ‘a new beginning, that no matter how bad (hot) things may get you will get back up on your feet (rise out of the ashes)’. We chose this name for this 5 year old purebred male Golden whose original name was CUJO, because if any living being needs a new beginning, it is this boy. Phoenix has a severely injured back foot. It is an injury that is called “degloving” where the skin is literally pealed off a limb. We cannot post photos of the injury because it is too gruesome. He has lost two toes and only has the center pad left on his foot. We were able to help relieve some of his suffering through medications and treatment at Georgia Vet Specialists. We will never know if his injury was a car accident or if a human being did this to Phoenix but we do know that he had no other injuries on the rest of his body. It gets worse though because his owner did not treat the wound. He claims he took the dog to the vet and the costs quoted to help him were prohibitive. So, he took him home and washed his wound and put hydrogen peroxide on it. Someone met the dog and later called animal control who went out to the property and demanded the dog be taken to a vet for treatment within 24 hours. The owner surrendered the dog the next day with no treatment claiming he could not afford to pay a vet and paid the $12 to euthanize the dog. Someone fortunately called us and we tried to help. However, it is with sad hearts that we had to help Phoenix cross the Rainbow Bridge. After many consultations with the vets at GVS, it was determined that he had developed unmanageable complications due to being so severely injured as well as probably abused. We will never know what this poor boy suffered in his short life but we are thankful that he
experienced kindness and gentle touching from humans in his last days. We regret that we were unable to give Phoenix his new beginning.