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Amélie
Quick Bio
Age:
Young (1-3 years old)
Gender:
Female
Breed:
Jindo
Size:
Medium (7-20kg)
Colour:
White
Description:
Update: 14 Oct 2013
Things are looking up for Amélie as she has a foster home lined up with a wonderful, wonderful lady! She should make the transition this week if all goes as planned. Let's hope it all goes smoothly!
Update: 25 Sept 2013
I visited Amélie the other day at the vet. Dr Choi is still, so kindly, keeping her there free of charge. BUT, she is NOT looking good. Why? She is stuck in a cage that is not really big enough for her. My vet does not have facilities for large dogs. She also has a "bed sore" thing on her right hip from having to lie in the same position all the time. She has lost weight and muscle tone just from having been so restricted in her movements since she was taken to the doctor.
PLEASE! URGENT FOSTER NEEDED! Even if you can only commit to giving her a quiet, calm environment in which to recover from her heartworm & Ehrlichiosis for the NEXT TWO/FEW MONTHS, this would GREATLY help.
She would need an animal-free home as I'm convinced she was an unwanted chained dog before I found her & we know nothing of how she is with other animals. She would also need a patient, calm person to allow her to build up her confidence in a home.
Can you help this stunning girl to get a new lease on life? Please contact me!
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Amélie caused me quite a few sleepless nights of worry. Why? Please read her rescue story, right to the end:
On the 27th of July 2013, I wrote this on Facebook:
"Yesterday I passed a lady on the roadside crying her eyes out. There was a Jindo lying on the road where she was standing. All the cars were speeding past & ignoring her and the dog... I stopped and she said "car accident". It was midday (hot!) & she said an "ambulance" was coming in 30 minutes (between sobs). I went to the dog who snarled & snapped at me. I figured it was in pain and scared. I had a blanket in my car so I put it over her, picked her up, put her in my car and drove her to the vet.
She is pretty aggressive but using a looped leash around her neck the vet managed to get her sedated and do X-rays.
She has no broken bones but her heart looked abnormal. Her intestines are full of stones. She has a too-tight collar on & that crappy plastic twine stuff around her neck. She has heartworm AS WELL AS Ehrlichiosis - a tick-borne disease. We figure she was not just hit by a car, but also terribly, terribly sick.
The vet can treat her for the diseases, but at the moment she is too aggressive to be helped. He is going to wait a few days, allow her to relax and try to "make friends" with her. If he is able to do this, we will go ahead with treatment.
Unfortunately, if she remains too aggressive to be touched etc., I fear we may have to make another decision.
If there is anyone out there who has the ways and means of getting this dog to trust enough to be treated, please contact me. She is currently in Cheonan. I think her best bet would be to go into a home with no other animals where she could be socialized enough to be treated and rehabilitated.
Thereafter, I had to leave for my summer holiday & the kind vet said I should just go and he will try to make friends with her as well as create a listing on the lost/found sites. I worried about her a lot while I was away. I was dreading coming back because I assumed she would still be there, still be aggressive & I was racking my brain as to what I could do or who I could possibly find to take on a sick, aggressive, larger-breed dog?
I walked into the vet's rooms when I got back and had my camera, hoping for (but not expecting) the best. Before I could even ask, Dr Choi said to me "Jindo, make friendly! Heartworm treatment started". I was so surprised! He had been concerned that he would not be able to treat her as he couldn't even touch her. I said "really?! Can I see her?" so he took me into the back room where she is staying in the hospital.
Well, I expected to see a dog who was scared but would allow herself to be touched by the vet.
What I SAW, was a dog who stood up, wagging her tail!
When he opened the cage, out she walked.
When he put his hand down, she rubbed her face against it and pushed her body against his legs!
I was completely gobsmacked. It was absolutely not, at all, what I had even dared begin to hope. I snapped some photos, overwhelmed, while he patted her on her head & her body. I asked if I could touch her & he said yes. I tentatively put my hand down and guess what? She licked it!! Not only that, but she pushed her muzzle into my hand, asking for more pats. To say I was overjoyed is an understatement.
This dog is going to make some lucky person a very, very loyal family member. I have been trying to think of a pretty name for her and I started thinking "something French"...When I looked more into the movie "Amélie" it says in the description:
she promises herself that...she will devote her life to bringing happiness to others and helping others as much as she can.
I thought that was pretty darn accurate. Amélie is destined for great things & a great family!
Now, some more info on her:
- She is being treated for heartworm & Ehrlichiosis (It's very clear that she has lived a neglected life thus far)
- She is staying at the vet in Cheonan, whose praises I cannot sing highly enough! (AnyPet: http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/vet-clinic/1177)
- I highly doubt she has been spayed.
What does she need?
- She needs a calm, quiet foster (or forever) home! The entire treatment from start to finish is 4 months. She is already about 1 month in, but she just cannot stay in a small cage at the vet for the next 3 months. Dr Choi has so kindly said he will do her treatment for free, but that my job is to find her a home. :o)
- She needs to go into a home where the person has patience & understanding that she is very timid & has lived her life on a chain, eating stones.
- She needs to go into a home where there are no other cats or dogs and no kids. I don't have any idea how she is around other animals or children but would not want to risk anything.
Can you take her in & help her? Even if you could foster her for the next 3 months until her treatment is finished, that would be immensely helpful.
If you want in on saving this sweet girl's life, please contact me on the contact e-mail address listed below. Please also remember to complete the application form: http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/adoption-application (we use the same one for fostering and adoption).
Thank you for reading this long profile. :)
Comments
marlajoy
Aug 28, 2013 04:19
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What a story!!! WOW!!! I'm so happy I got to hear about her after she made a turn around because I would have been worrying sick about her! And, wonderful name choice, Clare! Beautiful name for a beautiful dog!! :)
clare_bell
Aug 31, 2013 10:27
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Thanks Marla! She truly is a beautiful, sweet dog. I visited her today and was able to spend a bit of time with her. Here is a video I took:
marlajoy
Aug 31, 2013 10:39
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Wow! I would NEVER guess from watching this that she was ever aggressive with anyone! She is so calm and gentle - even with all that dog barking in the background. She is so sweet and beautiful! Just goes to show that sometimes the dogs with the toughest exteriors are the most sweet and gentle when you give them a reason to be. No such thing as a lost cause!
marlajoy
Nov 17, 2013 08:37
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We miss you? What? Poor Amelie. :(
Ashleigh
Nov 17, 2013 09:09
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What happened? Poor girl :(
shellyvv
Nov 17, 2013 20:24
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Apparently she bit her foster mom and the decision was to have her euthanized. It was on ARK but looks like it was removed. Poor girl. RIP angel!
marlajoy
Nov 17, 2013 20:29
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That is so unbelievably heartbreaking. I obviously don't know the circumstances but I wish the foster mom had come to this community to find another solution. Poor Amelie.
shellyvv
Nov 17, 2013 21:07
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Yeah I know. I did read though that they had consulted trainers and had people working with her but they decided to do it instead of rehoming with the fear of her biting again and were very against putting her in a shelter. Ill post here what they said.
shellyvv
Nov 17, 2013 21:08
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This was on ARK:
"It has been a very bad 24 hours, and I am absolutely devastated to have to announce that I have had to make one of the hardest decisions I've ever made. On Sunday, Amelie with be put to sleep. Amelie was rescued a few months ago and was exceptionally aggressive for the first several weeks of her stay at a vet's office in Cheonan. Slowly, Amelie began to tolerate the presence of humans and we hoped that with time and training, she'd be able to learn to accept and trust people. She showed promise and a foster home was found. She was moved to her foster home in Seoul the week of October 14. On Saturday, Oct. 19, Amelie bit 2 people who had entered into her new home. Her foster mom, Dany, was in a difficult position, as she was to leave on that Sunday morning for a work trip for 5 days. Because of the biting incidents, the person who was supposed to watch Amelie was very scared and nervous, so Amelie was left alone all Sunday. The same day, Sunday, Dany contacted me and asked for my help. I went to her home and was able to coax Amelie into my car after several hours and several attempts she made to bite me. I began working with Amelie and she stayed at a training center for 2 weeks. At the end of those 2 weeks, we decided to try to figure out if her biting was caused by a pain issue. She was put on pain medication and seemed to be doing much better. Over the past 2 weeks, I've been working with Amelie and Dany to develop an extremely strict regimen of interaction between Dany and Amelie. I've been consulting with Karolina Facchin, a certified trainer, and have used my own personal experience throughout. Unfortunately, last night, Amelie bit Dany. The bite broke the skin and happened after Amelie initiated contact. The interaction was very normal for what has been happening over the past 2 weeks. Given Amelie's history of aggression and biting, as well as the severity of the bites and the circumstances surrounding the bites, especially the latest bite, this decision had to be made. We considered several things when making this decision. First, it is unsustainable to ask anyone to have a dog in their home that they can never touch, even when she's asking for affection. Second, Amelie is too much a risk to all people and all other animals. We can never forget that Amelie can and will bite anyone at any time and in any place. We would not be acting responsibly if we allowed this risk to other people. Amelie has developed confidence in biting, and thus, has moved into the higher stages of biting types. Third, we feel that rehoming her would cause a regression in her behavior, so this is not an option. We are limited by the resources available in Korea and the cost of those few that may be available. Rehabilitation could take months/years and quite likely might never be successful, and even after training, she could never be in a home with children, other animals, and possibly men. I considered many factors and consulted with experienced trainers and rescuers before making this decision. There simply isn't the available space to give all of the information that was considered before making this decision, so if you want to know more, please feel free to message me. Amelie can be a real sweetheart and she holds a special place in my heart. She is a reminder of why we continue to work tirelessly for all those other animals out there who have pasts full of abuse and neglect. My heart aches when I think about what might have happened to her in the past that makes her feel as if she needs to fight for her life, even when people are giving her everything she could ever need. This is the hardest case I've worked on in Korea and I hope that I will never again have to make this kind of decision. Thank you to Dany, her foster mom, for being so amazing and for doing everything I've asked over the past few weeks. Thank you to Clare Mills for allowing me to try to help Amelie. Thank you to Karolina for helping me give the best I could to Amelie. Thank you to my mom, Anne Yablonski Swearingen, for drying my tears and offering to donate the cost of a proper funeral for Amelie. To Amelie, thank you for showing me your softer side and for clawing your way into my heart. I will never forget you and I promise to be with you at the end on Sunday, so when you find the peace that's been so illusive in your life, you will find it knowing that you were loved."
clare_bell
Nov 17, 2013 21:10
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Her foster mom did everything she could & was extremely helpful throughout the process. Unfortunately, a series of serious bites to three different people, as well as consultations with professional dog trainers in Korea and overseas brought about this really difficult & sad decision. It wasn't made lightly and it's the first time this has ever happened with one of "my" rescues. We are all heartbroken.
marlajoy
Nov 17, 2013 21:23
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Thank you so much for all that added information. It definitely helps to understand.
Amanda-n-Leeloo
Nov 20, 2013 09:17
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I was the one who wrote the above post on ARK. I was the one working with Amelie. This was an incredibly difficult decision, but one that had to be made, unfortunately. Amelie was put to sleep this past Saturday. We did so humanely and then had an individual funeral and cremation. Her ashes have been delivered and she will forever stay with me, Dany, and Clare. RIP, my darling Amelie!
marlajoy
Nov 20, 2013 09:23
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I'm sure it was difficult. Thank you for loving her and taking care of her. At least she got to experience what that is like. :)