The Story of Peanut

No good deed goes unpunished.

-Clare Boothe Luce

I've never rescued a dog before, not like this. She was laying on the dirty asphalt baking in the hot Florida afternoon sun her nose sun-burnt. Near her feet a discarded pair of men's underwear. I observed her for a few minutes from a distance. There were quite a few men around fishing and she could have belonged to one of them. She barely moved, she looked thin and very dirty.

I was with my family at an area called The Stick Marsh which is a boat launch area at a state park. It is open 24 hours and people come and go all the time. A few of the fishermen who were packing in their equipment told us that she had been there when they arrived that morning close to 5am if not a little earlier. That means she had been out in the direct sun for 7 hours with no food or water.

We offered her a bowl of water and she had no interest. I sat next to her trying to shade her from the oppressive rays. From what it looked like she may have been a hunting dog because of the very thick pink collar. That is speculation, we don't know. I tried to get her to stand up but she wouldn't budge. The park ranger came over to check on the situation and he said he'd call animal control but it would be a while and it's a very high kill shelter she would be taken to. I needed to get her into my car and now. I wasn't going to let her be put down. Attempts were made to get her to stand up but it wasn't until I moved my car close to her that she popped up and walked a few steps away. Thankfully that meant she didn't have a broken leg.

After a few minutes and everyone telling me to be careful not to get bit (she never even made a noise forget be aggressive in any way shape or form) she was lifted into the car. She was a sad sweet heart, I'm sure being in the heat all day just made her dehydrated and confused.

We were still a little concerned about an injury so we brought her to the Brevard Animal Emergency Hospital, it was a Saturday afternoon so we didn't have many choices. When we arrived the vet tech said they were not an intake for strays, she didn't realize that we were willing to take on the responsibility of paying for her to see a vet. At this point I was calling her Peanut.

The vet checked and saw that there was a very small puncture wound under her left leg up in the pit area. The wound was very small, when I looked it was no bigger than the end of my pinkie finger and not deep. We were given some antibiotics because there was some puss and some saline solution so we could clean it up at home. Other than that she was fine. The vet did mention we would want to bring her to a regular vet and get her shots which is exactly what we did that Monday.

We made an appointment and took her to Florida Aid to Animals. The vet was great, she was given all her shots and was a little trooper not flinching or making a fuss at all. I specifically asked about the wound and if she would be ok to have around our other dogs. We were given the green light and now we could introduce Peanut to my two dachshunds. As I was standing outside with Peanut the vet tech did come out and told me she was heart worm positive and that we would need to get her treatment but it was expensive. I didn't care, I all ready loved her.

Everything went great with the introduction. Unfortunately for me being around her was not great. This had nothing at all to do with how she is as a dog, she's an amazing sweetie. I just happen to be allergic to dogs that have any under coat what so ever. Because of this my throat was closing up, my skin was breaking out into hives and sores and my eyes have never been so itchy. I supposed if I could have stopped myself from hugging her and kissing the top of her head it might not have been as bad but it still wouldn't be pleasant.

This depressed me but with her being such an amazing girl I knew I would have no problem finding her a forever home.

I made a small effort to find her owner but with little time it was limited to internet posting.

With only a week till we needed to be back in NC I frantically tried to find a rescue to help me. I had no luck at all. It was disheartening to say the least. There was no choice, Peanut was coming home to NC with me and we would be a three dog family until I could find her what I envisioned as her dream home and family. This would also give me time to have her spayed and started on heart worm treatment.

I started reaching out to people in NC with no luck. My allergies were getting worse. I ended up reaching out to Orange County Animal Services because I thought with all their experience with dealing with rescues I could maybe get a name or two.

That's when the nightmare began. Shortly after emailing them I got an email at the same time my phone rang. It was Orange County Animal Control asking me about Peanut and this wound. I told them she had her rabies shot and that she was fine. This wasn't good enough. They had a meeting and determined that Peanut was suddenly a huge threat to public health and suddenly they felt that she could have been exposed to rabies. I explained that even if the wound was from an animal there was no way it was a bite or a scratch. Any person with even a rudimentary knowledge of animal attacks knows what a bite or scratch looks like and that the area in which her tiny wound was it was impossible for most all animals to get at her there.

This was not good enough I guess because while Peanut was at the vet to get spayed (which didn't happen and that whole experience is a rant for another day) I was called and told an officer would come by to check on the situation.

There was no situation, had Peanut been found a day later no one would have even seen she had a wound at all and then according to them an animal like that is watched for two weeks and then adopted out or a rescue comes for them. If Peanut is such a risk to public health then why are other dogs adopted out that they are not aware of their background? Either they are letting potentially dangerous animals out into the public or they are putting down every dog in that situation.

Office Mike Hess came by my home and talked to me about Peanut. He said it would be ok, that it's only a ten day thing and it's just a safety precaution. I wanted to comply, I don't want to put anyone at risk. Before he left it got a little upsetting. He said it's in my best interest if I bring her in, that I don't want him coming back for her. I felt threatened. I began to panic.

I made the mistake of not going to get Josh from work and having him come with me. That was a bad judgement call on me but I was very upset and on a ton of allergy medications. I was also assured that it wouldn't be a big deal and everything would be fine that they would take good care of her.

I picked her up at the vet and brought her to Orange County Animal Control on Eubanks rd. I was clearly upset as the woman behind the counter found me a box of tissues. I could barely hold a pen but they pushed a piece of paper in front of me and told me to fill it out. I tried to ask questions but Officer Hess suddenly had to attend to another woman who had come in with a dog even though I was there first. I filled out the form sobbing and full of fear. I saw at the top that 10 day quarantine had been circled and I was worried because Peanut is all ready shy, what would 10 days alone do to her.

I asked if I got a copy of the paperwork and was told no and that I should “just leave.” I demanded they give me her harness and the guy behind the desk asked me what I was still doing there. I knew I had made a huge mistake. It was too late, they had Peanut. I sat in my car and cried.

I rushed to pick up Josh and he asked what happened, I explained and then he said we should go back and demand a copy of the paper work I filled out. A different woman was behind the counter and Josh told her I was in earlier and that we wanted a copy of the papers I signed. She hemmed and hawed for a minute but finally turned over the carbon copy. I was shocked when I looked at it. No longer was 10 days circled, that was crossed out and 6 months was now indicated.

I thought I was going to die. My heart felt like it stopped beating.

Josh knows an ex-coworker who deals with rescuing animals. He asked her to come to the shelter with us so we could talk to Irene Phipps and sort this out. We tried to reason with them but Ms Phipps and Officer Hess were going to hold on to this rabies thing as hard as they could. No budging would happen at all. There was even a point where Irene grossly misquoted statistics about rabies deaths in orange county as in the thousands where there is only one or two people in the entire United States of America that die a year from rabies. That's right one person in the entire country might die from rabies in a given year.

We were told we had two options. Put Peanut in 6 month quarantine at our expense or have her put down. I became hysterical with emotion. My body shook and uncontrollable sobs took over.

Irene suggested a vet, which is apparently the only one in the area who can take care of a dog being quarantined for possible rabies exposure. I called that vet and started asking how much and what will happen. We needed to know if we would be able to have her heart worm treated because if it goes untreated it will kill her very painfully by cardiac arrest.

We were first quoted around $5000 for the six months then were later told $6000 or possibly more. We would also have to add flea treatment, heart worm treatment monthly preventative which she wouldn't be able to take while getting the treatment to kill what was all ready there. The costs kept piling up and at the end was told that there would be a chance that it would require more money at the end. Now with boarding and all the other things we are tipping the scale over $7000. We still need to have her approved to be treated for heart worm positive.

We were told Orange County would NOT allow us to have her treated while in 6 month quarantine but they would call the State vet and see if he would allow it.

If we can't get her treated she will likely die while waiting to be cleared of the impossibly tiny chance that she even came in contact with an animal with rabies. No cases of rabies had been reported in the area of Florida where we found her since the beginning of the year. Not one single case. Two vets cleared her in Florida yet now she's suddenly this huge public health risk.

I'm facing a tremendous finical burden or killing this sweet dog. A dog that I just wanted to save. I know I can't save them all but this one, this one would be different. She would get a chance but now it doesn't look likely.

I've set up a savepeanut.com web site, crowdfunding and a change.org petition.

I would never want to put anyone at risk of being hurt but I know that she is not a risk, I know that wound is not a bite or a scratch from a rabid animal. She's just a dog who has gotten a raw deal in life and now I'm being punished because I wanted to save her and not just let her die from starvation in a hot Florida parking lot.

Please help me Save Peanut.