Major Medical

100 x 5 procedures – every dog must have their day!

Once animals arrive at SOHS the real work begins… every dog from the Saving Train rescue trip must receive vaccinations, worming meds, intranasal bordetella spray for kennel cough, Frontline, and have a microchip implanted. Many dogs require additional medical procedures from stitches to medications to surgery. It's all part of the routine protocol at SOHS but… there is nothing normal about performing all of the basic procedures in one day on 100 dogs! An army of volunteers and three staff members were assembled to insure that all dogs would receive everything medically required to be available for adoption.

One of the elements of temperament testing is making sure that a dog’s mouth can be opened and their head can be touched easily; this lets intake staff know whether or not a dog can be properly medicated without too much difficulty. Some dogs are calm about the medical process and others are squirmy but after nine hours, all required procedures were completed. But, there is more… dogs are also bathed as time and bathtub permit although baths are not always given to the smallest dogs in cold weather. It is important to bathe the dogs before spay/neuter surgery because they will not be able to have a bath for two weeks following their surgery.

Dogs that are not crazy about having their nails clipped will have it done while they are under anesthesia for their surgery. They have had a stressful journey and must acclimate to a new environment so we try to make the transition as stress-free as possible. SOHS volunteer Peggy sees to it that dogs in need of a makeover receive one so that they can put their best paw forward!