Santa Lands Early for CEBR December 17, 2010
On December 5, 2010, a beautiful 15 week old bully pup now known as Cranberry embarked on a journey most dogs will never experience. Hers is an amazing story of people coming together to help an animal in need. Chicago English Bulldog Rescue has had some incredible intake stories over the last four years, but this is one of the most unique arrivals that we have experienced in a long time!
Cranberry suffers from a congenital defect which has caused severe deformity to her front legs, requiring special orthopedic care. Her prior family couldn’t afford the care that is required and wanted her to have a happy life. They decided that CEBR would be the best place for her and that we would be able to provide her the care now as a pup that will make for a healthy adult bulldog in the future.
Copyright 2010. Chicago English Bulldog Rescue, Inc. All rights reserved.
Rescue Tales
"I'm here for you Berry"
Given her young age and special needs due to her leg deformity, Cranberry was not an ideal candidate for the “rescue caravan” CEBR participates in, and it was important that we get her in our care as quickly as possible to begin exploring her orthopedic options.
Private pilots Pete and Karen, from Glenview, IL learned of Cranberry’s circumstance and knew they had to offer their help to support this beautiful puppy. They flew from Chicago's Executive Airport in their own plane to pick up our precious cargo and bring her back to her new "home" with CEBR. They prepared before flight with all of the essentials they would need to travel with a pup (in the cockpit of course) and even outfitted her with “mutt muffs”; special ear protectors to block the sound of the plane. CEBR volunteers met Pete, Karen and little Cranberry at the airport with red carpet fanfare. We can’t thank this wonderful family enough for devoting their time and finances to help a little bully pup. They truly are our "Air Angels"!
Once in our care, we realized just how special she really is. Her condition was much worse than we had thought. Her elbows are completely dislocated. The bones in her legs are subsequently bent, swayed and unattached at her ankles. As she grows, the bones have no room to extend since her ankles are also deformed and actually face backwards. She cannot walk on her front legs, but rather scoots. Her back legs work perfectly. With the exception of a small cherry eye, she is otherwise a perfect little bully pup full of spunk and sass.
And spunk is the operative word for Miss Cranberry! She doesn’t know walking any other way so she scoots and scoots around the house terrorizing the older bullies in her foster home! She tries to get them to play, tugs at their jowls, gives them the puppy growl and otherwise is your typical rowdy young gal! She is so smart that she knows to go on potty pads on command. Surprisingly she can navigate obstacles that require a bit of a climb and is not at all shy around her larger foster brothers and sisters.
Cranberry has already visited a local orthopedic specialist and the news was not what we wanted to hear. He is not convinced surgery is the best option for her because he believes the outcome will most likely not get her back up on her front legs for normal walking. Any surgical options would be a multi-stage process rather than a single surgery.
We are determined to give this little girl every chance and will be seeking a second opinion. So, Berry heads to Iowa State veterinary school, the premiere surgical and orthopedic specialists, right after the New Year’s holiday. We believe this second opinion will allow us to examine all of her potential options. In the meantime, we are researching front-end wheelchairs that will provide a non-invasive solution to let her move forward easily without putting all downward pressure on her front joints.
Precious Cargo Arrives
We won’t give up on this sweet girl! Follow her journey on Facebook, or better yet, come to the next CEBR event and meet her in person!
We anticipate Cranberry’s care will be expensive and she will be in our foster program much longer than our bullies without special needs. If you would like to join our Air Angels Pete and Karen and the entire CEBR volunteer team in giving this special little Christmas Angel every opportunity at the best medical options available, you can make an online donation at:
Meet Cranberry
