posted January 13, 2014 07:52 PM            

Giving Pharrell a Second Chance

Among the dozens of pleas we receive every day, this one grabbed us by our throats.

Picked up as a stray, this dark sable (we've figured this out since we got him into our care - his initial photo is indefinable) was barely able to walk, emaciated, covered in fleas and had open wounds all over his legs.

Thankfully, after a couple of days in shelter care, he was able to eat and drink (who knows how long he was on his own in the high desert), so his strength came back to at least allow him to motor under four legs.

We rescued this boy, now named Pharrell (after the ridiculously successful music producer - what the heck, let's give him some good head rubbing luck), and our team is busy working to make him feel as good as new.

Pharrell landed at our vet's this week with fleas literally flying off of him and at least 25 pounds underweight. He does not have demodex mange, which was the original diagnosis, but he does have a severe bacterial skin infection, a horrific flea infection.
This sweet boy gets along with other dogs and has been the perfect houseguest in his foster home. His first night in a home, it looked like he melted into the dog bed because he was so exhausted. No one is sure yet regarding Pharrell's age, but our vet guesses he's 4 - 6 years old.

We are thrilled that he has a foster home, but we desperately need donations to help support his care which is going to continue for a bit. He will need ongoing care for months to come. His new life has already begun and, no matter how long the road ahead, Pharrell is happy to have a foster home, complete with dog siblings, and people who care for and nurture him. As we are an all volunteer organization with no paid employees, 100% of your donations go directly to the dogs who appreciate it more than you know!

Update 10/02/2013
Look what your support has done in just THIRTY days! These after pictures were taken 30 days after Pharrell was rescued just before Labor Day. He has gone from a dog that was so weak, he was carried into the shelter, to this ball driving, silly, loud, bossy YOUNG dog. We originally thought Pharrell was closer to 6 years old if not older, but now that his coat is coming in, he's gaining weight, we can't imagine him to be older than 2, if that.

You may notice some "white" around his left eye - that is because he and one of his foster buddies were playing so hard, that his buddy got his nail caught on Pharrell's face (no they were not fighting but roughhousing like two rambunctious teenagers) and he had to have some surgery to close up the wound.

Just 30 days and a dog that would have been dead if not for our loyal donor base, is now literally bouncing off of walls. He's almost ready to go to his new home!!!! Could that be you?

Special Funds Needed!

Often, the decision to save a dog's life is determined by our ability to pay their medical bills! We have not been able to assist as many medical cases as our hearts have wanted to over the past couple of months due to a depleted medical fund. All too often, shelters in Southern California label a dog to be rescue only due to illness. This means the dog is not available for adoption by the public and their only hope for getting out of the shelter is a rescue.


Even more often, the dogs are released with a waiver of spay or neuter. This means that our rescue is taking on a dog that may likely be ill, is not altered and may not have its vaccines, all of which we are committed to taking care of. As an all-volunteer group that depends solely on donations, we now work even harder to raise the dollars to help these homeless pets!
How Your Dollars Help!
While we have several high cost surgeries recently, just $25 can fully vaccinate one dog! $10 will cover one night of boarding. Your donation, combined with others, can help us put together the funds. Here's how your dollars can help:


$100 - will fully vaccinate four dogs
$200 - two pallets of dog food to feed 70 dogs for two weeks
$300 - will pay a month's boarding for one dog
$500 - will spay or neuter four dogs

http://www.coastalgsr.org/