ON THE MEND

Abandoned puppy recovering from two broken legs

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The 3-pound Yorkshire terrier puppy with two broken legs who was abandoned in the vestibule of a North Side animal shelter is recovering.

Surgery and treatment has already topped $3,000 in veterinary bills for the puppy named Laney by staff at the Western Avenue shelter of the Animal Rescue League/Western PA Humane Society.

Now 12 weeks old, the puppy had a post-surgical checkup on Wednesday at Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Center in Ohio Township. Her legs were surgically repaired there on Feb. 22.

Veterinary staff “changed her bandages and took her off pain medications. A veterinarian thinks she has a head injury from the fall,” said Dan Rossi, chief executive officer of the ARL/WPHS. Her broken bones appear to be healing.

Laney has been recovering in a foster home, but shelter officials have been concerned because she seems lethargic. Pain medication and a head injury could account for that. She will need weekly vet checks, Mr. Rossi said.

The puppy was found at 2:45 p.m. Feb. 21 in the vestibule of the shelter.

Pittsburgh police have investigated and found the owner, a mother of five young children who said she had gotten the puppy for Christmas. Her 5year-old son told her on Feb. 21 that the puppy was “outside crying,” Mr. Rossi said.

Apparently a 2-year-old child had opened an upstairs window and the puppy went out onto the roof of a porch and then fell, police were told.

The woman told police she took the puppy to three veterinary hospitals. At the first one, the puppy was anesthetized for X-rays. The woman did not have enough money to pay for surgery. The staff at all three hospitals refused to work out a payment plan to treat the puppy, she told police.

Police do not think charges will be filed because the puppy was injured in an accident.

Laney is not yet able to walk or put any weight on her front legs, Mr. Rossi said, but has been put back on a diet of regular puppy food. She has been eating a very soft diet with a high volume of liquid.

Hundreds of people have contacted the shelter wanting to help or adopt Laney, Mr. Rossi said, and some have donated money for her veterinary bills.