Spooky's "Extreme Makeover"

Warning to sensitive viewers: this page contains disturbing images of an injured animal. I'm Cindy, a grad student in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who loves dogs.  Some of my animal-loving friends have encouraged me to create this page to keep everyone posted on the recovery of Spooky, the American Bulldog I have rescued.  He has come a long way, as you can see from his photos, and I am currently working on a fundraising campaign to help with his veterinary care.  If you are an animal lover interested in donating a dollar or more to help with Spooky's veterinary bills, you may do so securely at Paypal.com using the account "pennfolklore@yahoo.com."  You do not need to have a Paypal account.  You may reach us at by email at pennfolklore@yahoo.com as well.

Spooky is a five-year-old American Bulldog from the tiny southeast Georgia town of Folkston.  He was taken in by my father, and his primary job was to keep the wire-eating squirrels and raccoons out of the welding shop.  Spooky staked his claim to a storage room and a piece of mattress foam from an old truck sleeper.  During the day, he hung out in the work area, where he solicited attention by resting his head on the knee of any worker or customer who sat down on an upturned bucket to talk shop.  Then, in early December 2006, Spooky went missing.  After three weeks of searching the nearby woods and roadsides, my family faced the fact that Spooky was probably gone.

A few days before Christmas, Spooky dragged himself home on three legs, looking like a bag of bones.  He had deep gouges in his chest and back left leg, and was dehydrated.  The vet determined that his injuries were probably caused by a fight with wild boar, which have become a nuisance in the area.  He weighed only about 30 pounds.

I appeared there was no choice but to put him down.  No vet would be available until after Christmas, and even that would be quite a drive.  I was driving down from Philly and begged my parents to wait until I got there, although I had no idea what I could possibly do.

I had no idea what I was getting into, and everyone was worried that this was a not good idea, but by January 5, I had decided to bring Spooky back to Philadelphia with me in the car.  At two veterinary hospitals in the Philadelphia area, Spooky had surgery for his chest and leg injuries, had more shots and several rounds of antibiotics, was treated for an ear infection and an intestinal infection, and is now undergoing a two-month heartworm treatment process.  In this photo, Spooky is up to about 50 pounds, but is still on antibiotics and has tested positive for heartworm.

When I arrived, Spooky was eating, and we had to be careful not to let him eat or drink too much at once, since he could make himself sick.  He made it through the night, and then through Christmas.  By New Year's, he had his shots and was treated for worms and parvovirus, but it was clear that he would need much more extensive veterinary care.  My parents would not have the financial resources or the time to travel back and forth to the vet in Jacksonville, FL several times a week to get the care he needed.  He was facing forfeiture and euthanasia.

He is up to about 60 pounds in this photo, and you can see that, outside of the scarring, he looks fairly normal.  Because of his bulldog underbite, his tongue sticks out almost all the time, which makes him look like a silly Alfred Hitchcock.  He has coughed constantly throughout the heartworm treatment (the worms die in the heart and pulmonary artery, which feeds his lungs, and the irritation causes him to cough).  We had an emergency during which he coughed up a lot of blood, but after rushing to the vet for blood work and monitoring, the problem passed on its own.  As more of the heartworms die and disappear, he wants to be more active, and I have to try harder to keep him quiet and calm, since it's important to keep his heart rate down during treatment.  Four months after the heartworm treatment is over, Spooky will need to be neutered.

As you might imagine, this has been extremely expensive - in the last four months, I could have bought a compact car with the money I've spent on Spooky's vet bills.  But it's a good investment - I can trade him in later for a Mitsubishi!  I'm a grad student, so I'm on a budget, but I've managed some creative budgeting, cutting out frills and entertainment. I also had some help from my family, from good old Mastercard, and a short-term loan from a close friend during an emergency.  When Spooky crawls into my lap (all 100 pounds of him now!), I know I'd be willing to make minimum payments to Mastercard for the rest of my life.  However, if you are an animal lover interested in donating a dollar or more to help with Spooky's veterinary bills, you may do so securely using the buttons above and below.  You do not need a Paypal account to make a donation.

Spooky has come a long way, and it has been worth every penny.  Working with high-needs animals is intensely rewarding, but it's important to know what you're getting into, both financially and emotionally.  I would do it all over again, but it has definitely taken its toll, and I can imagine circumstances under which I would not have been able to do it.

For those interested in getting involved, I recommend talking with your local shelter about volunteering, or consider adopting a shelter animal.  The SPCA and Humane Societies screen animals to be sure they are physically and psychologically ready for adoption, which is particularly important for homes with children.