On Monday I headed down to Salem to testify in favor of House Bill 2470 - a piece of proposed legisltation to shut down Puppy Mills in Oregon and give some guidelines for consumers who purchase puppies that are ill.

Me and my puppy mill rescue DeeDee

I arrived early for the hearing and after finding parking and paying my meter in the pouring rain I headed to the Capitol Building. Immediately inside I met Glen Kolb, the executive director of the OVMA also there to testify. The OVMA originally was taking an opposed stance on the bill due to language but was willing to come in Neutral with the chance to work on the bill. 

The crowd waits to get into the hearing room

I saw the crowd waiting outside of the hearing room. Groups of people gathered on both sides of the issue and there was tension in the air as people were passionately discussing their sides of the argument with friends. When they finally opened the door to the hearing room only 1/2 of the people were let in. The rest of us filtered in next door to watch on the big screen. Again people were clustered in groups and in such close quarters. Everyone was pretty respectful but without being in the Committee Hearing Room, I felt a little like we were in an 8th grade classroom with no teacher present. With each passionate testimonial the growd gently edged to get out of hand - but it never did. I sat with Glenn and another veterinarian there to testify - Larry Peet. 

Scott Beckman testifies in support of HB 2470

Chair Holvey opened up the hearing by explained that he drafted this legislation and has a great interest in the bill. He also generously added that he wanted to hear all sides to make this bill a good one and looked forward to the testimony. The first to speak was Scott Beckman with the Humane Society of the United States who did an excellent job outlining why the bill was needed and put to rest some of the rumors out there that the HSUS was ultimately trying to eliminate pet ownership. The HSUS is an organization that is made up of very reasonable, proactive people working hard on animal welfare issues (that's why I am a member of the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association.) After Scott, Sharon Harmon spoke for the Oregon Humane Society and gave an empassioned speak about the horrors of puppy mills and echoed my feeling that the bill doesn't go far enough. She repeated over and over that the minimum standards set out in the bill was that the cage has to be big enough for the dog to lie down, stand up and turn around.

Sharon Harmon with OHS makes an empassioned speech

There were many other testimonies from both sides of the aisle. Most of the breeders and the National Animal Interest Alliance were concerned with the wording of the bill, the fear that good breeders would be affected by this bill, that Oregon Welfare laws already apply and that it is an unfunded mandate. Other breeders supported the bill and believed that everyone should be against the horror of puppy mills. 

Finally it was my turn. Right before I went up we were asked to keep the testimony to 1 minute instead of the 3 we originally were granted. I read the most important parts of my testimony including the difficulties I have seen when puppies from questionable sources are purchased and become deathly ill. I was so honored to be on the panel with the other 3 veterinarians including Dr. Ingrid, Dr. Larry Peet, and another doctor from Tillamook who all did such an excellent job - speaking to the Committee with their heartfelt testimony. 

The plan for the bill now is for it to enter a Working Group to revise the bill and get it to the floor for a vote. Please take the time to read the bill. Once you have read it I encourage you to contact your state senator and representative and encourage them to vote yes on HB 2470.  You can also find a form for the anti puppy mill legislation on the HSUS website along with information about the bill and issues with Puppy Mills.

 

    

Mojo in one of her fashionable t-shirts - we call it her "First Day of School" shirt.

Some of you may have noticed in the latest pictures of Mojo (especially the Snowjo pictures) that Mojo’s stump was getting swollen and red at the end. For about a month we had been draining large amounts of viscous, blood tinged fluid from it and started working her up to see what was going on in there! Infection – no. Inflammation – yes. Essentially Mojo had developed a hygroma at the end of her stump. Hygromas are swellings that normally occur at the point of the elbow where large dogs will put a lot of impact on them when lying down with a thump. A swelling develops to cushion the point and it becomes a problem. Mojo’s “hygroma” came at the tip of her humerus where her break and amputation occurred because she was using it so much – dragging herself across the floor with it, trapping DeeDee between her front legs and propping herself up from a lying down position with it. After much research and really wanting her to keep the stump (perhaps even for future prosthetics) we decided the best thing to do was amputation.

Mojo and Indy playing the day of surgery - see the swollen stump?

We scheduled Dr. Van Gundy to come into our clinic to perform the surgery. And as I was getting ready (mentally preparing myself for the procedure) we received a call from Stacie, Dr. Van Gundy’s technician that they could come early, the next day if that worked for us. Well, of course that was better for Mojo and with tears in my eyes I said sure. I am not one who likes to be surprised like that. I need to prepare to keep myself in Vet mode and hold my Mom mode down. The surprise put me directly into Mom mode and I was frankly worried about her…just like all of you are when one of your pets need surgery.

Mojo at home after her surgery - she still has on her boo boo bandage from her catheter

The big day came and Mojo did great. We arranged a play date with Indy that morning before surgery. Their last one for 2 weeks while Mojo was healing. They had a great time as always. Mojo woke up from her surgery vocally. I had forgotten from the times we had sedated her that Mojo did not do well with narcotics – she gets super whiny which is a side effect in some dogs. But she was completely pain free thanks to the infusion drain Dr. Van Gundy placed where we infused lidocaine directly into the wound. You could pat over the entire area with no reaction. Michael stayed home with her the next day and she did really well.

In order to protect the incision Michael went to Goodwill and bought a variety of t-shirts and she looked great in each one. She had some minor complications post surgical – mainly building up fluid at the incision site (she’s really good at that) and being itchy where her hair was shaved. We pulled the drain 6 days after surgery and the fluid is almost entirely absorbed. She does get some sharp pains occasionally which I’m not sure where they are arising from but my best guess is from the large nerves that were cut to remove what was left of her leg. She’s been maintained on pain medication (avoiding the narcotics) and is healing well. At the end of the week she’ll be able to have play dates again and go for longer walks and runs! Maybe even a snowshoe next weekend!

Close ups of Mojo's fun after	surgery tees

I wanted to thank all of you who sent your best wishes from Mojo’s recovery. You guys have been so great following her saga and we love her so much. Next update – physical therapy on 3 legs.