In February of 2003 I traveled to Missouri to pick up a mill dog, Sno-Babi, from Small Paws Rescue. She was a petite, cute little ole gal. Unfortunately, she had an awful sore on her backside and it was open. I flew to Missouri to pick her up and drove to Tulsa, OK to meet with Robin and Bonnie. Sno!Babi was an angel. We snuck her in a Chili’s
restaurant in a pet carrier and she was so quiet, as I gave her bits and pieces of my hamburger. When I flew home, she was in first class with me. We sat by an airline pilot returning home and he inquired about what I had in the carrier. I told him all about SPR and the mill dogs and he was a keen listener and compassionate to the cause of SPR.

When we got Sno!Babi settled in my mothers home (mom and I playfully fought over whose home Sno!Babi would actually live in) I made doctor appointments for her exposed sore. To make a long story short, after several doctors, she was diagnosed with micobacteriosis, which is an organism in the Missouri soil that burrows into the skin and produces open lesions. A dermatologist worked with Sno!Babi for over a year to get it under control and Sno!Babi took her medicine like a trooper. She hurt, but she knew we were taking care of her.

Sno-Babi was a typical mill dog...untrusting and afraid. Mom had already adopted a pup from Small Paws named Lola when Sno arrived. . Lola was 7 months old. Sno became Lola’s mother. They were definitely a bonded pair. Everywhere Sno went, Lola followed. Everytime Sno barked, Lola barked. Ironically for both dogs, they came from a puppy mill and lived with mom and dad at a lumber mill. Lots of wood, property and activity. When they saw people at the mill, the two of them would stand against the screened in porch and bark their cute little butts off. They never went anywhere with each other....they protected each other, Lola depended on Sno. They slept together.

In the morning, my mother would get up and growl at Sno-Babi and Sno would growl back, and then all the dogs got excited and all chaos began. Sno-Babi was definitely the alpha dog. Lola would eat greenies to a certain point and share the rest with Sno-Babi because she didnt have a lot of teeth. To sum this up, Sno-Babi was the sweetest, cutest little bunch of love with a personality that blossomed every day. We were so proud of how she grew to love and trust and play and frolic and enjoy her life. What a little angel.

I am looking through her medical records as I write, but I have recently looked through them quite a bit, because Sno!Babi has been very sick lately. From the very beginning of our loving this little lady, she had small issues with her stool. During the first 2 years she was on various meds and things seemed to be kept under control and the problem was intermittent. During this year, 2005, she has had many issues regarding her stool. Most of the year her stool has been of a soft serve consistency, and has been treated with various medications. As the year progressed, it became heavily mixed with blood. Then it came to a point where she was spewing out liquid stool mixed with blood. We worked with our regular vet but after a colonoscopy and x-rays and other small tests, it came to a point where he could not determine what was wrong with her, he suggested we just let her live out her life as comfortably as possible.

In mid October 2005, out of desperation, I consulted an internist, a very highly recommended specialist in the area, and he tried several meds, nothing helped. In fact, it got to the point that Sno!Babi was spewing stool more and dripping blood almost constantly. Everything imaginable medicinally was tried. An ultrasound was performed, revealing nothing. After exhausting any and all ideas from the specialists’ colleagues,
exploratory surgery was recommended. As you read this, bear in mind that Sno!Babi’s quality of life was worsening. While she seemed an energetic little pup often, she had this back end problem and was raw and had to be cared for frequently during the day with cleansing, Desitin, meds, etc. She kept trying to go, straining, and there was a risk of her colon rupturing and the possibility of eliminating an intestine. While all of her other vital signs were good, although her appetite (normally very healthy) fluctuated, several specialists recommended the exploratory surgery. So, we scheduled the surgery for Wednesday, November 9, 2005.
The day prior to surgery, we met with the highly recommended surgeon, and all systems were a go. Sno!Babi was deemed to be in good shape for exploratory surgery. His goal was to take biopsies in the hopes of finding out what was wrong with this little girl.

On Wednesday morning I picked up my mom and Sno!Babi and we dropped her frisky little self off for surgery. At 2 p.m. that afternoon the surgeon called me and told me things went well during the procedure and that she was resting comfortably and that I could call and check on her during the remainder of the day. I did that, and all was fine Wednesday. I stopped in to visit her on Thursday morning. They walked her into the patient room and while she seemed a little disoriented, she seemed herself. I kissed her and petted her and planned to visit her later. They did tell me at that time that they planned to draw blood to check something they were a little concerned about. I went on about my business as usual.


I normally pick up my almost 2 year old granddaughter at 3:30 p.m. I arrived at the day care and just as I was getting out of the car, the cell phone rang. It was the resident doctor in the recovery room. She told me that Sno!Babi’s PCV had fallen dramatically, that she has an increase in her bilirubin, and that her immune system was reacting against
her red blood cells. I asked her what all that meant and she said we could lose Sno!Babi that evening. I told her I would be right over there and that I wanted to see the Internist immediately. She told me that he had appointments and she wasn’t sure he could see us. Needless to say, by 4 o’clock I had my mom in the car and we went to the Emergency
Hospital. I approached the receptionist and said that I didn’t care how busy the doctor is, I want to see him and Sno!Babi now. And we did. Sno!Babi was still rather alert, very difficult to realize that she was experiencing such severe problems. Mom held her and loved her and she responded. The doctor told me the things above and also that she had
jaundice. He said that none of this was on the list of concerns he would have expected as a result of this surgery, and quite frankly he didn’t have a clue why this was happening. He explained that the PCV had to be monitored closely and if it got to a certain level she would need steroids, but the problem with that is that it would be damaging to the healing
process of the biopsied areas. According to the records, her PCV was as follows:

• 11:30 a.m. ! 23
• 2:50 p.m. ! 22
• 8:00 p.m. ! 21
I stayed with Sno!Babi from 4:30 until 8:30p.m. The poor dog would not eat. Poop and blood came out without her even trying, necessitating her to be cleansed, Desitin and new bed clothes. She was handled quite a bit. Thus, no rest. She did drink. They also administered the meds. Every time she needed to be changed, she weakened. Towards the end of my stay, she could hardly stand. They said that it was good that her PCV had not dropped significantly since 2:50 p.m. and that the danger level is 19 whereby they would administer the steroids.

I went home at 8:30 p.m., in tears and full of fear. I called the hospital at 10:15 p.m. She was restless, and had to have her diaper changed twice in that short period of time. Again, no rest for her. At 11:15 p.m. I got a phone call. Her PCV dropped to 19 and they were going to administer steroids. I said okay. They did not sound optimistic.

At 11:45 p.m. I got a call that she stopped breathing and was on a ventilator. It was recommended that she be euthanized. I had to call my mother, Sno!Babi is her dog. We discussed it and while we were, another call came in. Sno!Babi died.

Sno!Babi died alone in a cage. None of her loved ones were present. I bet you can wonder how we feel. She was poked and prodded by the medical staff.. Tested, blood drawn, etc, etc. We are devastated. We feel guilty. We don’t understand. The doctors don’t know what happened. They don’t know why these things occurred. Sno!Babi in the end threw a clot, thus her death.

Today, Friday, November 11, 2005, mom and I spoke with the surgeon and met with the internist. Neither have a clue as to why these things happened to Sno!Babi. I am having an autopsy conducted in the hopes of finding something. What does it matter now, it wont hurt Sno!Babi, her little body has the stitches and cut already. I want it known that this little girl spent 6 years in a mill, breeding beautiful pups, because she herself was beautiful. She was beautiful in many, many ways. She knew
almost 3 years of devoted love from my mother and father and me. She had 3 dog siblings, so to speak. One will miss her terribly. Lola is already showing signs of depression..

When we picked up Sno!Babi today to deliver her to my regular vet for the autopsy and cremation, she was in this little box covered by the blankies used to contain her leakage. This little angel looked beautiful in death, if you can imagine that. We kissed her and loved her one last time.

So here we are, lost, looking for answers. What did we do wrong? What could we have done differently? What will the biopsies and autopsy how? Why did this happen? She was only 9 years old, full of life, except for the poop problem. Why???

The damn millers used this little girl. They neglected her care. They are the ones responsible for this little baby’s problems. If she had been treated properly earlier in her life and during her pregnancies, she would be here now. Instead, she lived her life in a cage, without proper nutrition, eating, pooping and peeing on top of other dogs in cages and having the same done to her. She had to have babies every time she came in heat.
She received little medical attention. When she came to us she had the look in her eyes that all mill dogs do, the vacant stare, the look of hopelessness, fear, and numbness. Living her life with her doggie siblings and my mother and father brought back the normal look in her eyes, the look of love and joy and happiness.

We are obviously searching, grieving, etc. I just wanted to share this horrific story of an adopted puppy mill dog. There is a hole in our hearts. Something significant is missing in our lives. Something very unfair has happened. God bless her little heart and soul. We gave her 3 years of love and care, she gave us a lifetime of memories. She truly was an angel.

With love to Sno!Babi,
Her mom and co-mom