Triangle Sheltie Rescue (TSR) donors, volunteers, and overall supporters,
We, TSR Board members, have a unique announcement about something we have never done before. You will remember the young tri-color male, Bentley, which had a severely broken leg that required expensive surgery or amputation or being put to sleep. We were brought into the situation by the specialty vet who convinced the family to surrender the dog to TSR in order for him to have the surgery to repair his leg. Bentley has had his surgery and so far is doing well. Normally, our process would be to adopt him out to a new home once he has healed from surgery. However, in the time since his surgery, a lot of things have happened that have changed our thoughts about our usual process. Most importantly we have come to understand that his family loves him tremendously and was willing to put his physical wellbeing ahead of keeping him at home as a 3-legged dog. (The fact is that the family had already spent $4,000 treating his initial break with surgery and when that repair failed they could not afford to repeat the surgery and were going to have to opt for amputation.) In the time since Bentley's surgery, our experience and interactions with the vet involved have also caused us to have questions about the vet care that was provided to him after his first surgery and how it might have affected the outcome of his first surgery. His family has been in frequent contact asking about his condition, sharing information about him, and expressing their love for him.
To make a long story short, we have come to the unusual decision that it is in Bentley's best interest to return him to his loving family once he is healed. This is a decision that feels like the right thing to do and makes us feel good as an organization to have provided assistance and "rescue" to this dog and his family. We know that they will never forget this.
We hope that you will also feel good about our decision and proud of your part in achieving a "win-win" outcome for Bentley and his family.
Happy Trails, Bentley.
TSR Board of Directors:
Jason, Erin and Sherri