2.23.2006

May you forever rest in peace, Leibchen. You were loved.

A letter from Leibchen's wonderful foster mom:

It is with great sadness and much love that I want to tell everyone that our Leibchen passed away this morning. It was a quick, but not unexpected death. She died here at home with her family surrounded by a lot of love and happiness. We will miss her and her raspy bark, wagging nubby as she tried to con us out of the human food treats she so loved. The smell of popcorn will always remind me of her. The smell of it popping would bring her to you from any area of my home.

Leibchen had a myriad of medical problems brought on by years of neglect, this was compounded by her advanced age. She fought to live through the neglect that brought her to us. Her will to live, an inspiration to all those who heard her story. She chose to live and fight when most would have given up. I believe her message to all of us was to spread the word about taking your pets with you during a natural disaster evacuation. In her memory, please spread this word to everyone you know. If it saves one life it will mean her message and fight will go on to save others.

Many thanks to Dr Melinda Knight of Bayou Cane Veterinary services. She has worked with me for months trying to find the right combination of medications for Leibi. She took the time to research different medications and to call and check on Leibi. She came out this morning and is handling Leibi's final arrangements.

My deepest thanks to Ms Kathleen O'Gorman for coming to visit Leibi and for loving and caring about her. Because of her kindness, Leibi will never have to go through another hurricane again. Ms Kathleen has kindly agreed to take Leibi's ashes with her to North Louisiana to her hurricane haven.

Leibchen died knowing love and that we valued her and her life. Her bed was soft, her bowl filled with food and water.

-Jeanette Tanguis

Leibchen's Story:

She was put out with the trash when her "family" returned to their home 7 1/2 weeks after Katrina. They found her unable to stand and near death. Their reaction was to drag her to the curb and leave her in the trash pile for pick-up. When a neighbor noticed she was still alive, and asked them about this, the owner stated they didn't believe she would be (alive) by the morning.

The neighbor took the Dobe to the Southern Animal Foundation Clinic where she stayed for weeks with a 50-50 chance of survival. She was named Leibchen and continued to improve daily. She was released to Gulf Coast Doberman Rescue and walked out of the vets office under her own steam. She totally enjoyed riding to Houma to meet her new foster mom.
Photos from Gulf Coast Doberman Rescue, a 501c3 organization



















1 comment:

Book said...

aww thats a shame, kinda cruel toward the end there :(