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Saying Goodbye to Benji

Saying Goodbye to Benji

On a daily basis, our Hope Animal Sanctuary employees save abandoned and abused animals who are in desperate need of care. Unfortunately, this is not the case for all of the animals who are brought to the Sanctuary, including the precious life of a puppy who was in too poor condition to save.

Some of the animals who are brought to the Sanctuary have horrific backstories while many others arrive without information explaining their sad circumstances.  There are baby animals like Benji, an adorable puppy who was just 6-7 weeks old when we found him abandoned on the side of the road. His tiny body was covered in ticks and fleas, and his little belly was bloated with internal parasites.  Sadly, finding puppies in this condition is not an unusual occurrence, and our staff is very experienced in treating these issues.

Benji was rushed to our Sanctuary and given a bath to rid him of the ticks and fleas and was vaccinated and given medication to kill the internal parasites.  After a meal, he began to feel better and showed us his gratitude by yipping and playing with toys, stealing our hearts in the process.

The next day, we noticed that Benji’s legs were bending due to a condition called Rickets which occurs when puppies fail to receive proper nutrition.  As we were preparing a soft bed to place in his kennel, poor Benji had a seizure. He began to show signs of blindness and was experiencing severe neurological issues. Our veterinarian confirmed our fears that Benji was a very sick puppy and he was given a grave prognosis.  

We will never know what happened to little Benji.  Perhaps, he was born with this condition or maybe being thrown from a moving vehicle caused brain damage. These questions regarding Benji’s death will never be answered, but we know for sure that when we lost him, we lost a little piece of our hearts.

Tragically, there was no happy ending for Benji, but there is comfort in knowing that our team did everything in our power to save him and that he spent his final moments with people who truly loved him. As we say goodbye to Benji, we prepare for the many animals who will need our love and care in the future. Your donations can help make happy endings for so many other animals who are in need.

Please donate to In Defense of Animals and help us save more abandoned and abused animals.

 

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