Banjo

This handsome boy is Banjo,a 34 lbs. Sheltie/something mix. Banjo recently completed heartworm treatment and is ready for his new home. He's an awesome dog - cratetrained and housetrained, gets along with other animals. But Banjo is a people dog - he'll choose humans over canines any day! When all my other foster dogs are off playing with each other, Banjo always sticks near us. He makes a great companion while working in the yard or around the house. Banjo is a sensitive boy, not sure he'd be comfortable in a home with very small children. But he's a wonderful dog and someone will be very lucky to have him! For more info on Banjo email wagwalton@yahoo.com.

Fall Festival fun

Time to dress up the pets!

Join us at the Monroe Fall Festival on Saturday, October 11 in downtown Monroe. It's going to be a busy and fun day! Paws in the Park 5K run and 2K Dog Walk starts at 8:30 a.m. in nearby Childers Park. WAG will host a PET COSTUME CONTEST at 11 am. at the historic courthouse on the square. Don't have a pet costume? No problem - we'll have discounted costumes available for purchase at the event. All funds go toward helping homeless pets! We'll also have some of our adoptable pets on site. More info athttp://www.monroedowntown.com/events/fall-fest

Pepper

Meet Pepper. This cute little schnauzer mix had a sad painful journey we don’t know anything about. She was brought into the Walton shelter early this week with obvious injuries; scared, trembling, eyes extremely bloodshot, facial lacerations and jaw injuries. She can't close her mouth or eat/drink normally and spent the last few days mostly huddled in the kennel corner with drool pooling at her feet. A sweet and otherwise healthy looking dog, it was assumed she had a broken jaw or similar injury so she was put in medical quarantine and scheduled for euthanasia on Wednesday if no owner came along.

The director mentioned her plight to a few rescues anxious to pull the healthier cute, adoptable dogs, but nobody was interested in helping her. Not surprising, I suppose, because money is always tight for rescues. Donations are hard to come by and it's hard to step into a medical situation with no clue of potential costs.

But something bothered me and wouldn't let me ignore photos of this girl, so we emailed the shelter on Tuesday night and offered to pay for a medical evaluation. Dr. Durrence at Monroe Animal Care Hospital, P.C. checked her out on Wednesday and gave us mixed news.

Good news is the jaw isn't broken and there are no orthopedic injuries. She was very dehydrated, had some trauma-related injuries, including a nasty infection under her tongue and minor eye injuries. But she also appears to have some sort of nerve related damage causing the problems closing her jaw. At this point Dr. Durrence feels it's trauma related and hopes she'll eventually regain normal use of her jaw.

Paws crossed for Pepper that this is a temporary problem that will gradually improve in a few weeks. Right now she’s still at Monroe Animal Care receiving fluids and antibiotics. Her jaw is wrapped loosely with gauze to keep it from hanging open. I’ll pick her up tomorrow and she'll be hand-fed until she's able to eat normally on her own. We're glad this little girl's life didn't end in the shelter and will do our best to eventually help her find a new home.

Anyone interested in contributing toward Pepper’s care can visit our website at www.wagwalton.com and use the Paypal link to donate – Pepper thanks you in advance!