Chuck Tender

Chance

Those are "some" of the countless Pit Bulls held at the Kansas City Animal Control facility. Most Pit Bulls at the shelter are euthanised 5 to 10 days after their arrival, depending on their case and if not claimed by their owner.

Some of the Pits are selected to be candidates for adoption via "Halfway Home Pet Adoptions" and are given a little more time. Though the dogs are not part of MPR's program, we have been asked by the shelter to screen all applications for Pit Bull type dogs.

When MPR has room, we do our very best to pull Pit Bulls from the shelter. For the sake of our current dogs however, MPR can't bail dogs out until we make adoptions. Even if we could afford boarding (which we can't), we want to see our current dogs find loving homes before we bring more into the program.

MPR dogs have been evaluated and proven to have good disposition and stable temperament. They have been socialized, are receiving training and most of them are housebroken and crate trained. When a MPR dog finds a good home, it makes room in our program to rescue a shelter dog.

By opening your home to a MPR dog, you are saving TWO LIVES!

Once we bring in a new shelter dog in the program we can then proceed with proper temperament evaluation, proper training and socialization.

"Chazz (formerly know as Igloo) went for a Sunday ride to the grocery store. While Josh (Chazz's dad) was in the store Chazz got into Josh's gum and ate the pack, which had about 8 pieces (half the pack). While we didn't think much of it I called a friend to see if she knew anything about dogs and chewing gum. She googled it and suggested I look into it, mentioning xylitol was coming up as poisonous to dogs. I had a sheet that I had been given before on foods that are poisonous to dogs; sure enough when I found it, xylitol was on there and we started to get concerned.

Chazz was lying around, which really isn't that out of the ordinary; but usually on a Sunday morning he'd be perkier. After searching online we called the emergency vet who was on call. For the amount he consumed Chazz was right at the threshold of it being lethal so he suggested pouring 2 oz hydrogen peroxide down his throat to make him vomit, if he didn't vomit in 4 minutes then we were to repeat a second time. If no vomit at all then take to the emergency clinic.

As you can imagine this was very hard to do, because after the first pour Chazz did not like it. After a second time of hydrogen peroxide we were going to attempt a third but decided not to because we did not want to traumatize him, he was so scared; never see him like this before. But might I add, he never once attempted to bite or growl his way out, not once aggressive, just wanted to avoid us. Poor Chazz would not come back in the house, just sat on the snowy/icy driveway. My dad started to walk towards Chazz trying to get him back in the house and as my dad walked toward him Chazz rolled on his back and of course the belly rubbing began. The trust was back and he came back inside. I have never seen him this scared, we felt horrible!

So while Josh, myself and my parents were petting Chazz and discussing what to do next Chazz started licking around his mouth so I took him downstairs, laid out a towel and up came everything. All his morning food and the gum that followed were all there. The vomit smelled like fresh mint gum.

Chazz seemed to be back to normal though resting quite bit; he'd been through a lot. We decided to let him sleep in our room to monitor him over night.

He woke us up several times throughout the evening (we thought because he wanted to sleep in bed with us) and when he tried it the 4th time at about 5AM we decided to just let him stay. Michelle noticed that he was making an odd noise with his mouth so I got up to go get him some water. He followed me down the stairs while starting to choke/vomit... only this time it was blood. Needless to say Michelle and I completely panicked and I immediately threw him in the car, ran up stairs to put some sweats on and off we went to the Animal Emergency room. We were both scared to death that something terrible was happening (liver failure from what we read about Xylitol), but thankfully his blood work came back positive; except for the values indicating he was dehydrated. With meds and IV, which Chazz took like a man, we felt some relief."

MPR, along with Chazz's family, wanted to share the story of Chazz's experience so that other families and their beloved pets would not have to experience a similar scare or worse.

What you may not also know is that it may only take 30 minutes after the xylitol is ingested for signs of trouble. The xylitol causes a rapid release of the hormone insulin, causing a sudden decrease in blood glucose. This in turn may cause the following symptoms: vomiting, weakness, ataxia (uncoordinated movements), depression, hypokalemia (decreased potassium), seizures, coma and liver dysfunction and/or failure.

Please be aware of Xylitol. Make sure your pet(s) do not have access to any of the products that contain Xylitol. The effects could be devastating. 

Shelter living is a life-saving option for the few lucky dogs we can afford to help that way, but we can't do it unless we receive financial assistance from people like you.

We have several programs available. Every penny counts! Become a Helping Hand

MPR shelter is a life-saving opportunity for dogs that have no other options. For dogs that came from a difficult situation, a stay at the shelter is often a step up in life. But shelter life needs to be a temporary solution. In order to find a home, our rescue dogs need to live in a home and learn how to be well-behaved family companions. You can make a difference... PLEASE open your heart and home for one of the sweethearts. They desperately need YOU!

Become a Foster Home