August 07th my spouse (Kim) received a phone call from the local sheriffs department regarding a Great Dane that had been dropped off a few miles away from us. Since we are known to have some of are own they called us and asked if we would pick him up and see what we could do for him. The alternative was for him to go to a shelter where he would most likely have been put down due to his size, breed and extensive health issues caused by neglect.

Kims initial reaction was published here (Note* photos are somewhat distrubing) along with a few photos of �Cowboy�s� injuries and so on. Without going into to much detail his condition was very poor. He weighed around 145 lbs and was estimated to be 20-30 under his ideal weight of 165-175 lbs. He has several severe infections on his limbs, ear infection and worst of all heart worm. Most certainly this magnificent creature would have been euthanized. His cost of treatment in vetrenarian care alone will tally somewhere around $800.00-$1200.00 much more then we could afford on our own to get him into adoptable condition.

Somehow after tons of emails from people inquiring about adoption of Cowboy we came to the conclusion that no one would be willing to take him due to the high cost and high risk involved in caring for this wonderful creature. When we were about to give up what would almost be considered a miricle came along from a West Coast resident named Colby. Being a Dane owner and lovers them selves her and her husband set aside a little money to give back to the breed each year and have a soft spot for rescued Danes as their own was an orphane at one time.

With their own time they arrainged for a highly respected vetranarian to access Cowboy and develope an active treatment plan for him. Now there is just one more hurtle for him and that is a high level of protien in his urine. Which could be a urinary infection which will clear up easily. But it could also be a warning flag that his heart worm has become advanced enough to cause extensive damage to the filtering tissue in his kidneys. But we are hopeful that his kidneys are in healthy condition and that he will finally recieved treatment for the heart worms that are infecting his body and preventing him from being adopted.

The post treatment care will require confinement for something like 6 weeks or more to prevent the little worms from becoming dislodged and causing a stroke. But then Cowboy will be a healthy adoptable Great Dane. While he has been with us we have found him to be very well mannered and to have a warm loving personality. Truely a companian worth saving.We now feel he will in fact be saved thanks his personal guardian angel Colby.