The 2021 Texas Pumi Rescue Effort

We helped a terminally ill Pumi owner by taking care of her Pumik and finding them new homes.  Because she had been ill, the dogs were not in great shape. See below for their saga.

This rescue cost many thousands of dollars and the HPCA Rescue Fund had just over half of what was required for their extensive vet care.

Thanks to those who donated to this effort, the HPCA Rescue Fund has been restored to its original amount!

5/21/21 – From Andy: “Thank you very much for quickly enlisting E’s help and getting the two dogs taken care of so quickly. E was great to work with not only from the dog standpoint but her support of me emotionally was very helpful. I know the dogs will find a safe and loving home things to everything you guys did. I can’t thank you and E enough”. Zairie and Ammie visited dock diving today! They seemed to enjoy it.

5/20/21 – Otso and Killikki are doing fine at the vet. They’re very shy, but are eating.

5/19/21 – Otso and Killikki were picked up this morning and delivered to the veterinarian for a checkup, blood draw, and vaccinations.

5/18/21 – Andy texted us: “if the dogs are not taken care of by Thursday (May 20) at 5:00 PM I’m taking them to the Humane Society since I’m leaving town on Friday. I take no pleasure in this but I don’t know what else to do”. And we heard from the European breeder! He says he has not heard from the person who was to pick up the dogs in 5-6 days and was very worried about Otso and Killikki. He asked that we intervene. He says: “Killikki was really a very sweet female puppy. Otso was a puppy with incredible physical abilities and an incredible herding instinct. I always regretted letting him go.” He added “I really want them to have a real chance of a (finally) happy life. Just a word, save them!”

5/17/21 – Zairie is a totally different dog today. She is bright, happy, feeling good, tail and head up, and she is eating on her own. The vet will do a recheck in the morning, after which she can go home. We are still trying to contact the European breeder about Otso and Killikki, but no response so far. Ammie had a bath today and was trimmed up and looks much better.

5/16/21 – Zairie is looking much brighter today and her bloodwork is much improved. The bill for Zairie is going to be about $2,700-$2,800. Andy texted us “It’s with much sadness that I share with you that my sister passed away. Her pain and suffering have ended.” He hasn’t heard anything from the person who was supposed to pick up Otso and Killikki, and we also were waiting to hear from her about our offers to help with pickup and transport.

5/15/21 – Zairie’s kidney values have continued to worsen, although other bloodwork is good. Finally, late at night Zairie had picked up enough that they were able to do exploratory surgery and discovered a slow abdominal bleed (unrelated to the spay). They were able to stop the bleeding and sew her back up. We got a message from Andy that he has not been able to work things out with the other person picking up Otso and Killikki and asked if we could help. A member of the rescue group offered to transport the dogs to the person, but was rebuffed. We’ve been trying to contact the European breeder, but without success.

5/14/21 – Zairie doesn’t seem to be doing very well and seems to be in pain and her foster mom took her to her vet who says she is depressed and dehydrated. Then the vet called and said Zairie needs to be transferred for emergency exploratory surgery as she had an abnormal amount of fluid in her abdomen and was going downhill quickly. They transported her to the emergency clinic where she perked up a bit.

5/12/21 – Both Zairie and Ammie got checked out an are with their foster home.

5/11/21 – Daru had a happy reunion with his breeders and is back at his “first home’. Zairie got spayed today.

5/10/21 – Baker and Daru were checked out of the vet hospital and are on their way! Baker is being dropped off with Stacy Lehman in Dallas who will meet up with Taru Holinsworth who is adopting her. They’ll continue on to Brandon, MS to meet up with Meir, stay the night in a hotel and they’ll all return home the next day. The GPS collars had still not arrived so 3 more were ordered from the manufacturer to be sent to Taru and the foster home. We have reports that Baker seems to be happy in her new home!

5/7/21 – Ammie got spayed today. The HPCA ordered 3 GPS collars for each one when they leave the vet clinic. They should be delivered tomorrow (Amazon). Three HPCA members have each volunteered to pay for a collar plus a few months’ subscription fee (total $100).

5/6/21 – Baker got spayed today.

5/5/21 – Otso and Killikki still have not been picked up. One of our rescuers has volunteered to foster Zairie and Ammie. They’ll probably be happier together for a while.

5/3/21 – The breeder’s brother, Andy, said he’s working with the other Pumi person to pick up the remaining two dogs. Andy is staying with her now. The two dogs that haven’t yet been picked up are Otso and Killikki who were imported from Europe. Daru and Baker are going to get sprung from quarantine on Monday, May 10!

5/1/21 – They have all settled in at the vet’s, and Daru and Zairie are very lively even in their kennels. Baker is a bit more reserved. Ammie is still getting her pain meds and is still limping. She puts her right rear foot down but is not putting much if any weight on it. She is very sweet and a bit more lively, even with the sedating meds, in her crate today. Daru’s breeder and Sandy Cumpian have agreed to meet in Brandon, MS (halfway between them).

4/30/21– We heard that the other 2 Pumik would be picked up from the breeder today, then found out that she wouldn’t be able to today.

4/29/2021 – All three are very scared but are allowing the staff to handle them. All the dogs have been fully vaccinated and are heartworm negative. Ammie is not using one of rear legs and she was x-rayed today to see if they can find the problem. The radiologist will review and report on the X-rays Monday. We’ve been able to get all the registration information for everyone. All three girls will be spayed sometime during their quarantine. Good news! We have an adoptive home of one of the sisters!

4/28/2021 – Unfortunately, we lost both of the puppies to Parvovirus.  So in addition to Daru, who will be reclaimed by his breeder when the quarantine period is up, we have three 3-year-old sisters that remain in quarantine that appear healthy and will be ready for fostering in about a week. We are planning for them to be spayed while they are at the veterinary clinic.  We have one person who has volunteered to take one of the girls. We don’t have an update yet on expenses incurred, but with both pups no longer with us, that amount will be lower than expected. Once our foster homes have had the time to evaluate temperaments and such, we will be ready to adopt them out with the right families. They still have a long way to go, but I am so hopeful that down the road, they will have found that forever kind of love they so desperately deserve.  You can fill out an adoption form.

4/27/2021 -Today, the rescue team headed by HPCA member Linda Barrett, took 6 of the 8 Pumik from the owner to her veterinarian. (The other two are being picked up by a friend of the dogs’ breeder in Europe.)  Two of the dogs are 4 month old puppies, and both tested positive for Parvovirus.  Because Parvovirus is very contagious and can be deadly, the dogs must stay with the veterinarian and cannot go to the boarding facility that had offered to board them at a significant discount.  The vet really did not have room for the Pumik who are not sick, but they but they said they will keep them given their plight.  The veterinarian estimated that the cost of the quarantine of all 6 Pumik plus the medical treatments of the puppies could be as high as $9,000. The oldest Pumi is Daru who is being taken back by his breeder, but must sit out the quarantine time at the vet. Daru has three daughters, sisters, who are Baker, Ammie, and Zairie. All will need to be shaved down.

4/26/2021 – A few Pumik have come into rescue.  They are being vetted and quarantined but will be needing foster homes and eventually forever homes.