Ronnie - Tailends 17.11.07 - 4.12.07

Ronnie arrived at Tailends on Saturday November 17th 2007 from Rochdale dog rescue who had asked us to take him as he was serving his week on death row in the pound and had little chance of being offered a place anywhere. We would like to thank Rochdale Dog Rescue, particularly Coryn, and all the drivers involved with transporting Ronnie to Croyde, namely Alyce, Mich and our old friend Ronnie Callegari – after whom Ronnie is named.

He is a large unneutered black and tan lad, possibly with German Shepherd, Rottie and Collie in there somewhere. He has a lovely personality and is just like a cuddly teddy bear. Like Ted, he was in a very bad condition when he arrived and it will take a while to get him to full health. His thick hair was coming out in clumps and after several grooming sessions there is still a long way to go. He had a huge tumour which weighed several pounds hanging from his rear end completely concealing the testicles. He also had a growth on his right eye and deformed dew claws on his back legs which had grown into his flesh. The tumour, dew claws and eye growth were all removed on Monday 19th November and he is now recovering. He has obviously been kept outside and is now learning to live indoors with proper routines of feeding, walks etc. There is a problem with his back and hips which we will investigate further when he has been here a bit longer and has fully recovered from his recent major surgery. He is also quite restless and seems to be very breathless though our vet found no evidence of heart or lung problems. There may be a laryngeal irregularity which we will also investigate in due course to try to make him more comfortable. He is having vitamin supplements, fish oil, pain relief and antibiotics. Hopefully we will soon see more improvement in his condition.

Ronnie is another old dog with serious health issues and who was found by the local dog warden wandering as a stray in Chorley. There is no excuse for such neglect as help is available for those on benefit or low income through charities such as the PDSA. If only all dogs were neutered as a legal requirement! This is the only way to prevent a serious dog overpopulation problem, which leads to them being treated as disposable rubbish when they are not wanted anymore.

I cannot find the words to express how we feel at the news which we have to give you regarding our new boy Ronnie, who came to Tailends from a Rochdale dog pound on 17th November 2007. Ronnie had his surgery to remove a large testicular tumour on November 19th and we had hoped that he would gradually improve and be able to enjoy his time at Tailends, but it was not to be. We were concerned about his mobility and the fact that urine tests continued to indicate the presence of blood so arranged for him to have a scan and x-rays on Tuesday 4th December. Our vet rang later that morning with terrible news. Ronnie's pelvis was in a very bad state with large areas disintegrating and clearly showing the presence of aggressive bone cancer. Our vet did not know how he was able to stand, let alone walk. The x-ray was one of the worst they had seen of the pelvis. In addition Ronnie's prostate was very enlarged and had been pushed into a different part of the abdomen. Obviously the testicular tumour had been malignant, which was very unexpected.

The cancer had spread from the testes to the pelvic bone and the prostate. We were told by the vet that his pelvis could shatter at any time causing excruciating pain. We could not allow this to happen so we agreed with the vet's advice to let him be put to sleep while he was stil asleep from the anaesthetic. I never got the chance to say goodbye to Ronnie and we are so very heartbroken that this very special dog had only 17 days with us. It was the last thing we expected. I know he is at peace now and free from pain. He deserved better than this after a life of so much suffering. How could his owner have turned him out on the streets in this state? My vet stated that had he been castrated he would have been alive today. If this story of a dear affectionate dog makes just one person decide to get their dog neutered then he will not have died entirely in vain. Neutering is not just about preventing unwanted litters, though this is of course very important. It is also about preventing a needless premature death. I am so sorry we could not have known you for longer dear Ronnie. We will see you again one day.