THE STORY OF RUTH FEBRUARY 2008
	On 24 February, Barb Dulaney writes: Here is the story of the poor little female Cairn Terrier (Wheaten color) that was an Owner Surrender from Craig's List in Fairwood, Washington - eight miles from my workplace. A woman who had met the owner (single mom & kids living in an apartment) & Ruth emailed CRUSA reporting that Ruth was neglected and her poor skin was terrible.
I contacted the owner numerous times by cell phone & email to get her to release Ruth to Cairn Rescue. She was asking for a rehoming fee, which was not paid. The owner kept changing the pickup dates and finally I drove out to her apartment this past Thursday after work. The woman and her two teenage children did not want me to see their apartment but handed Ruth without showing any emotions. They did give me her wire crate, blankets, toys, salmon oil, medical records & receipts. It seems they were so ashamed of how Ruthie looked they only took her outside long enough to do her business. In the photo above you can see the black skin and missing fur on Ruth's neck, chest and front legs. Her fur is hot and sticky in these really bad areas. Ruth was kept in a crate most of her life and the kids fed her junk food. The owner paid $679 for Ruth as a puppy in June 2003 from a local pet store. According to the "Pedigree", the Thunder Hills Kennel out of Missouri supplied Ruth to the pet store. My Internet research shows Thunder Hills is a puppy mill that squeezed four dogs into one crate for shipping to pet stores; this is not against Missouri law. In the picture above, you can see Ruth's right ear is black and reddish inside from her untreated allergies.
Ruth's skin looks like Malassezia Dermatitis (Yeast Infection of the Skin) and covers 3/4 or more of her body. I tenderly sat her on the bed to take these pictures. Her skin is blackened with red raw areas, virtually no fur except on her head and upper part of her body. It bothers her to walk and use the bathroom; as you can see from my photos, the lower part of her body - back half - is horrible looking and is like elephant skin. You cannot see in this picture, but the skin in front of her back legs is cracked open and very sensitive & painful when she squats or anything touches it. She smells musty and her skin is hot & sticky in the worst areas.
Ruth from the back; this is her tail and to each side, her two back legs. This back area is especially atrocious & painful. Many folks shared their treatment protocols with me: Karin Parish of Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue (SPDR), Scottie & Westie Rep, Col Potter's Yeast Protocol, Kris from Westie Rescue of Missouri and of course my Vet, Dr. Liz Conger of Des Moines Vet Hospital in Des Moines, Washington. She only weighs 13 pounds; most of her skin area & ears are affected by the skin allergies. Ruth's blackened chest and front legs.

CONTINUE WITH THE STORY OF RUTH HERE