Sunday afternoon, as winter was burying southeast Michigan under mounds of snow, one of our staff members received a phone call about a dog who was found half frozen in a ditch on Canandaigua Road. The staff member drove in to meet the dog at the shelter and assess her situation. It didn't look good.
The rottweiler mix was severely underweight, blind, had swollen lymph nodes and she couldn't stand on her own. Yet she found a way to cuddle up to our staff members and immediately steal their hearts. She was given the comfiest bed at the shelter, yummy food, fresh water and lots of snuggles. We started calling her Phoenix.
The next step was a veterinarian appointment to catalog the damages and see how we could begin saving her life. The results of the appointment broke our hearts.
Phoenix had been diagnosed with cancer. Her white blood count was four times higher than it should be. She had a large mass in her stomach and she was dying.
We had only known Phoenix for a couple of days but she captured all of our hearts. Although we all became smitten with this bundle of love, we knew it would be selfish to let her suffer. February 4th would be the last day she had to endure the pain she is going through.
We had originally assumed this was a case of a starving dog being abandoned in the snow. However, although emaciated, Phoenix doesn't act like food has been withheld from her. The mass in her stomach and the infection raging through her body are most likely the factors for her condition. It's entirely possible this poor girl wandered away from home and found herself stuck when the blizzard hit.
We still want to find Phoenix's family so they have closure. We wanted her to be surrounded by her family when she passed, but she was lucky enough to be surrounded by her new family here at LHS. We know someone, somewhere, must have loved her dearly. We hope she crossed the bridge remembering that.
Phoenix crossed the rainbow bridge the night of February 4th, 2015. She went peacefully and thankfully, basking in the love of those surrounding her. Although she was only in our lives for a short time, she made a huge impact here at LHS and will never be forgotten.
RIP Phoenix. We love you.
