The Camelot Collies:  Can you help?

URGENT!! NCR HAS RESCUED A FAMILY OF 3 COLLIES

CAN YOU HELP?

NCR needs donations to support their veterinary care.

On February 2^nd 2010, NorCal Collie Rescue was asked to help a family of 3 purebred collies in Northern California.  The collies were confiscated from a homeless couple.  Unfortunately the owners, who were living in their car, understandably could not take adequate care of their collies, and animal control judged their neglect to be sufficient to take the dogs into custody.

  Lance is a 3 year old male, Lady is a 1 year old female, and Guinevere is their 5 month old puppy.

Lancelot	Lady	Guinevere

The dogs were held in a shelter for 5 days, where they were diagnosed with sarcoptic mange.  Sarcoptic mange is a severely itchy and uncomfortable disease, which is highly contagious to other dogs and people and can take months to cure. 

The shelter contacted NCR and many other rescue groups, asking for help. Everyone wanted to help, but knowing the dogs would have to be isolated, and their medical treatment would be extensive as well as expensive, no one could commit to taking the dogs into their rescue. The shelter would have had no other choice but to euthanize the 3 young collies.

NCR agreed to help the dogs. But…where were we supposed to put them? We made endless calls trying to find a hospital or kennel that had an isolation area where the dogs could be kept, without spreading the disease. Just two days before the dogs would have had to be put down, we were able to secure a place for them at a veterinary hospital, where they are now.

They are being treated for a list of ailments besides the sarcoptic mange, including skin infections, tapeworm and coccidia. These are all curable ailments, but the treatment, and boarding costs are well into the thousands of dollars already.

Lance, Lady and Gwen, started to feel better right away, as soon as treatment began. These 3 dogs have been described by all that have met them to be sweet, loving collies. Everyone that has had contact with them, has fallen head over heels in love with them, including the staff at the veterinary hospital.

When they are cured, they will need wonderful adoptive homes. But for the next few weeks, they will need on-going medical care.  

NorCal Collie Rescue could use your help supporting their veterinary care. In the past, our donors have made it possible for NCR volunteers to do their work to save collies at risk, like these three.

We will post updates on these collies as their treatment continues.

Camelot Collies un-leashed, un-plugged and one step closer to home - Update 03/06/2010

The Camelot Collies have been discharged from the vet hospital, where they were being treated for not only the sarcoptic mange, but also kennel cough and intestinal parasites.  They are doing much better with their treatment at the vet hospital, but Lance is still pretty red on his legs. Lady has a spot on her rump that is mostly healed, and Guinevere the puppy looks the best of all.  She has kennel cough again though....ugh! 

NorCal organized transportation for them to take place on Thursday, March 4th from the vet hospital to my home to be kenneled, separately from the rest of my animals.  They have their very own large play yard that we set up for them.  The dogs were very excited to be set free in their yard.  At first they were wild and crazy, but after they calmed down, I found them to be pretty well mannered. They listen very well and are crate trained. They are wonderful, wanting only to please people and of course have the sweet nature and temperament of collies that we know and love.  Even baby Guinevere is crate trained, listens well, and is a bundle of energy and playfulness.
  
After being locked up for 5 weeks and only taken out on walks to go potty a few times a day, it was a joy to watch them run and play and be so happy.  I thought they would never stop playing. They ran and played for two hours and when I put them in their kennel so I could go inside to get their dinners, they continued to play in there!
  
Because the dogs cannot be inside our house, and it is still pretty cold outside, I decided to put Guinevere in another foster home.  She is also at risk of possible re-exposure of the mites from her dad Lance and because she has kennel cough, she needs extra special care.  Her foster home has no other dogs and just one cat. They have a space in their home where they can crate her at night without exposing themselves to the mites and a huge yard to play in, all to herself.  Not to worry, Lance and Lady have all the shelter, warmth, and comfort they need as well. 

Even though they have been treated for the mites for a month now, and they are not itching anymore, we still want to continue their treatment for a while longer, and make sure they are 100% cured before we expose them to other pets and humans.
  
The Camelot Collies are one step closer to home!  We want to thank all of you who have contributed to the rescue of these 3 deserving, EXTREMELY sweet collies. Thank you to all of the generous donors, transportation helpers, and all the other support we have received from you for them, including your emails and letters. A special thanks to Kathleen, Dana, Susie, Lou and Miranda as well.

Camelots Cured and Home at Last - Final Update 04/21/2010

We wanted to thank all those who helped us financially in our effort to save the lives of these 3 sweet young deserving collies.

Lance and Lady Camelot were declared free of mites and all of their ailments and illnesses on March 23. Their hair had begun to grow back, and there were no signs of itching or red skin infection. They were then allowed inside my house as part of the family to enjoy all the comforts they deserve, along with getting evaluated on their house manners, as the next step on their journey home.  They got along famously with all of my dogs, and cats.  I was also very pleased when I discovered that they already had very good house manners. In fact I found out early on, that Lance was already obedience trained, and had been certified as a therapy dog in his previous life. He is a very special guy, and a complete joy to have around. He is a quality collie in my opinion, and it was unfortunate that his life was not, just before he came into rescue.

Lance has been neutered, and was adopted on April 5th, by a family that has adopted several collies from NCR in the past. Sir Lancelot, is now with his new older adopted brother King George.  Some things just happen for a reason right? George was adopted from NCR 5 years ago. In the past the family has had another Sir Lancelot and a King Arthur as well. Lance will always be a Camelot Collie. Lance's new family quickly realized that they just need to tell him what is expected, and he happily responds like pushing a button. I’m thrilled that we were able to save this wonderful guy from being put to sleep just in the nick of time.

Lady is a very sweet young lady as well. She is only 18 months old, and has not had very much training, if any, in her past. But she is a sensitive, wanting to please, well socialized collie, that is full of energy. Lady was adopted on April 7th. She will continue her training in her wonderful new home. She, like Lance, went to a home that has a  young, playful collie named Caden to play with, that was also adopted from NCR.  The first night in her forever home, she slept with her new parents on their bed all night!  It must have felt like heaven to Lady, after her long hard journey of poor health, kennels and cages. I suspect she will sleep with her new Mom and Dad from now on. She is such an affectionate love sponge girl soaking up the love in her new forever home.

Guinevere "Puppy" was renamed Cassia, as soon as she went to her foster to adopt home. She was officially adopted on March 26th. She is the center of her new family and is very much loved by her very own 10 year old little girl, Miranda. She is going to puppy classes now, and is learning so much every day. Her little girl, Miranda, is home schooled, so Cassia has her humans with her all the time, and is getting plenty of home schooling herself.  Cassia even got her own Easter Basket for Easter, full of new toys and treats. Cassia's family have been doing pet rescue for years, and  had a collie-mix in the past, and yearned to rescue a collie in need ever since. Cassia is blooming into a beautiful, full of life, very healthy and active young collie. She is a treasure to her new family.

We are very pleased at how all of our efforts, yours and ours, have resulted in such a beautiful and happy ending for these 3 collies, who will forever be remembered as The Camelot Collies. Your support is the reason we are able to continue to help so many collies in need. We cannot thank you enough.

Warmly,
Karen Boselly
NCR President, and foster Mom of the Camelot Collies