THE DOGS OF WINN-DIXIE
LIONMAN

The dog we named LionMan, my favorite of all the animals we cared for, was obviously a dog in great emotional & physical pain but he bore it with the nobility of a prince or a saint. He was a Chow, surrendered by his owner, maybe because of his array of physical problems. His  coat was so matted that the vets had to shave him down to the skin, all except for his dignified head. He looked like the King of Beasts fallen on hard times, and thus his name, LionMan or just Lion.

His hips were atrophied, one crooked and worse that the other. I don't know if the cause was dysplasia, the result of impact by a car or a foot, or a muscular disease.  Whether or not it is a condition that might be alleviated by something like a femoral head ostectomy, I don't know.

  If Lion were walked too far, he would very apologetically sink down to rest. The hip or hips must cause  him constant pain.

He is, like 90% of the dogs that came in, heartworm positive. He is intact. On one hip there is a coarse black area, about two inches in diameter, that is either a deep infection or a tumor. There was no microscope in the makeshift veterinary hospital at Winn-Dixie so the spot hasn't been identified for sure.

He is one of the sweetest, most forgiving dogs I have ever met.

  I agonized over what would become of him:  I couldn't bring him home to live in our pack of body-slamming ruffians. I couldn't leave him there. Rescue organizations passed him by.

  And then Lion got a little miracle of his own: I was not the only person to come under the spell of this very special dog.

  A young girl from San Francisco fell in love with him and with some financial help from another volunteer and myself, she flew him home. She is not working at this time and has little income. She's found  no vet in San Francisco willing to give her a discount on Lion's treatment ("we're through giving Katrina discounts"), but she has found a vet 45 minutes away who will. She has no car and will have to ask friends to drive them on each vet visit.

  It is her plan to set up a website whereby friends of Lion can contribute towards his care directly to the vet. I think  she has the courage and determination and optimism to get this job done. And Lion, whatever his medical outlook may be, is getting the affection and attention he deserves for the first time in his life.

  Cristina, his person, says he's walking much better already, a testament to the power of love.

  (Lion's care is being transferred to a San Francisco veterinarian; donations are being accepted . . . more information will be given when a vet or clinic has been chosen.)

  And this brings us to the final Winn-Dixie story . . .

CONTINUE WITH
IN THE EYE OF THE STORM:
KATRINA "A-TEAM" TRIP HERE