| Meet
Selma, a 9 month old AKC registered Karabash
Anatolian Shepherd born on 12/26/04.
Selma means "Divinely Protected" and
this made perfect sense. You will understand
once you know her history.
Selma
started off life named as Fiona. Fiona
was purchased from a breeder in Texas
by a woman who lived in Illinois. She
was sent a picture of some tiny ASD pups
and she chose the darker faced pup. After
she sent the money for the pup, including
several hundred dollars for shipping,
the breeder sent her the pup. The only
thing was, he sent her a much older pup
from another litter that had not sold
and he could not sell her bc she was
older. The breeder was immediately contacted
but he refused to take the pup back.
Selma was named Fiona at the time and
only stayed in Illinois for 10 days.
So she decided to sell her to a breeder
to be used as a breeder dog. Most breeder
dogs live in cages mass producing pups
with little to no quality of life.
Her
owner in Illinois got online (another
mistake) and found a breeder in Oklahoma
who agreed to buy Fiona. Without checking
this breeder out, Fiona was sent to her
via air cargo. (Dogsonly is developing
a page to help people ask the right questions
to make sure you are dealing with a reputable
and honest breeder) Fiona was shipped
to Oklahoma with the understanding that
upon visul inspection, a check would
be sent to her owner who would then in
turn mail her AKC papers. The OK breeder
made it very clear she wanted her AKC
papers to make the maximum profit off
of breeding and selling Fiona's puppies.
Fiona
was shipped out of state but the buyer
never paid Selma's original owner. This
meant she did not recieve the AKC papers
she wanted to be able to sell her pups
at a premium. The original owner in Illinois
was never able to get payment from the
breeder in OK so she never sent her AKC
papers. She made an attempt on 09/07/05
to call the breeder and demanded that
she receive payment. The breeder in OK
told her Fiona was a problem because
she had a loud bark and she didnt want
her anymore, and would not pay for her.
Then
she offered to pay for her if the original
owner would go ahead and send the AKC
papers. She tried to rationalize that
she would breed her for the pups and
sell them and then have the money to
pay for her. The original owner decided
things didn’t sound right and contacted
rescue. The original owner tried to sell
her to rescue, even though rescue groups
rarely have funds to pay for dogs let
alone the expense of all the vetcare
that must be provided. Rescue learned
about Fiona on 09/09/05 and called the
breeder in OK to ask if she had a dog
she no longer wanted. The breeder responded
stating that Fiona had been shot the
previous day (on 09/08/05) which was
the day after she received a call from
the original owner demanding payment
or Fiona back. The breeder just let Fiona/Selma
just lay alone and suffering, while the
whole time arguing about getting paid “the
dog” but at the same time wanting “the
dog” gone immediately. Fiona laid
there for over 24 hours. The breeder
even stated, "I don’t know
if she is going to make it, she was shot
over 24 hours ago and is laying here
bleeding to death. She has lost a lot
of blood and I don’t have the money
to take her to the vet". When asked
about how Fiona was shot, the breeder
stated, she didn’t know, maybe
it was a drive by shooting in rural OK.
According to her account a woman had
come out to look at some puppies while
she was gone and had apparently taken
it upon herself to shoot Fiona/Selma.
The breeder claimed that she just didn’t
know what had happened. There was no
trial of blood to indicate that Fiona
was shot on site.
We might never know the entire story behind
the attempted murder of Selma but at
this point, we know it is a miracle
this young pup survived this tragic
act of violence. We treat murderers,
rapists and terrorists better in our
society than we treat God's creatures.
At this point, we decided to no longer
call her Fiona and to start fresh with
the name Selma. Since coming into rescue,
Selma has been thoroughly examined
and this is the list of injuries that
have been found on her. It is apparent
the breeder took little to no effort
to care for her. Selma had - gunshot
wounds going from her rib cage area
and an exit wound at her thorax which
made it difficult for her to eat and
drink, she had burns from the bullet
exiting her body on the left side of
her neck, a 6 inch by 2 inch gaping
hole in her shoulder from an unknown
injury. This injury prevents her from
walking at this time, and the entire
skin layer is missing and possibly
will have a permanent scar where the
hair may never grow back. She had an
8 inch knife cut on her chest from
arm pit to arm pit that was 1/2 inch
wide and 1/4 inch deep that was beginning
to get infected. She had a fungal infection
on her left rear toe, there were numerous
hot spots all over her hind end. She
had a buckshot wound on her rear right
hip, and had tapeworms and flea infestation.
Selma did not do anything to deserve
this. At this time, she is in a great
deal of pain but is recovering. It
is not uncommon for her to wail in
pain. She is receiving the maximum
dosing available for pain management
and is doing much better.
Selma
needs and deserves a loving home. Despite
all she has lived through, she loves
people and as she lays in pain, she wags
her tail endlessly as if she were beating
a drum. We are not able to test her with
other animals at this time since she
is in early recovery. We do not know
the extent of her injuries at this time
and she may always walk with a limp on
her front left leg. We will be taking
applications on Selma but will be extremely
particular about her placement. Her 3rd
time will definitely be a charm.
Selma
is the 3rd Anatolian gunshot victim we
have taken in this year. Unfortunately
the violent offenders are not the ones
paying for their vetcare, it is the rescue
groups who have little or no funds. Our
adoption fees are minimal compared to
our costs on taking in and rehabilitating
the animals. We would appreciate any
donations you can make, large or small,
to help Selma and others like her.
Selma
will be available for adoption about
10/31/05 but you can meet her prior to
this time if you have an interest in
adopting her.
UPDATE
10/25/05 - Selma has recovered from most
of her injuries and at this time, only
has a slight limp that we are hoping
with time will heal. She will be spayed
next week. We have also discovered that
Selma was shot with the gun pressing
into her neck, in a sitting position,
most likely looking up at the person
who shot her. This leads us to believe
it had to be someone who Selma knew and
trusted to allow them to press a gun
into her neck and pull the trigger. The
force of the blast caused Selma to suffer
a huge shoulder injury which was the
cause of most of her problems with starting
to walk again. The vet was concerned
she might have permanent nerve damage
but that is no longer a concern. Selma
has been very good in her foster home.
She has never once had an accident and
gets along with all her foster doggie
siblings. We would like to see Selma
go to an adoptive home with other canines
but not large female dogs since as she
ages she might not tolerate them as well.
She is very protective of her home but
so far as been very friendly with everyone
she meets. She has a bark that resembles
a cannon firing so her adoptive home
would need to be ok with this. She loves
to go car riding and for leash walks
every night. She runs and plays like
she never had anything happen to her
with only holding her left front leg
up when it becomes too much and tires.
She runs right along with the other dogs
in the home. She is very responsive to
correction and only needs verbal cues
to let her know she is doing something
wrong. She loves to chew on her doggie
bones and wrestle and play with the other
dogs. She has not been around cats but
would probably be ok with a correct introduction.
She sleeps inside at night and has never
had any problems. She loves to talk to
you and chatters noises repeatedly making
us often wonder what she is saying. We
ask, but she doesn’t tell. She
also is a champion snorer. She will sometimes
pull her lips up in the am and smile.
Her only crime is she loves to wag her
tail. She wags it so hard she actually
bends her body in half back and forth.
She will sometimes knock things off a
table accidentally because of her tail,
but she is only doing it because she
is so happy.
Please
feel free to email us about Selma if
you are interested in adopting her. She
is ready to go to her new home and justly
deserves it! Selma is the happiest dog
we have had in foster care and she holds
no grudges in spite of all that was done
to her.
UPDATE
12/31/05 - Selma has completely recovered
from her injuries. She runs like a thoroughbred
and stomps by you like a stallion. She
only limps every once in a while when
she has overdone things. People who meet
Selma cannot even tell she was ever injured.
She loves spending time outside patrolling
during the day and coming in and sleeping
away on the couch. She is completely
housebroken and has never had an accident
in the house. She still has some puppy
in her and likes to chew up tennis balls
and bones. She loves her nightly walks
and has never met a stranger. She would
love to be adopted into a home with another
dog to keep her company as she is used
to living with several other dogs in
her foster home. They run and play and
have fun all day. Selma is a very sensitive
girl and would do best in a quiet home.
You have to watch her because sometimes
she will sneak up on you and lean into
you so hard she will almost push you
over.
If
you would like more information on Selma,
please feel free to email us at contact@dogsonly.org
Selma's
adoption fee is $250 and covers all of
her necessary vetcare.
PLEASE NOTE: ALL ADOPTIONS REQUIRE SECURE
FENCING. THIS DOG IS NOT TRAINED AS A WORKING
LIVESTOCK GUARDIAN DOG. COMPANION HOMES
ONLY PLEASE |
