Emaciated Great Dane Dumped in Central NY Finds Love and New Life

Love wins in this story of an innocent Great Dane puppy that had a horrible start in life.

Meet April; an emaciated and terrified Great Dane who was dumped in the Village of Clinton around July 22.

Fortunately for her, she was abandoned right by rescuer Cindy Siddon, who moved heaven and earth to bring her to safety.

"Everything happens for a reason," said Siddon, who had been at home battling COVID-19 when she first learned of the abandoned pup. "She was so thin, I knew that either she had been on the run for awhile or someone had not properly cared for her."

Work immediately began to capture April and get her the treatment she needed. "We were afraid that she'd get hit by a car," added Siddon, since she was abandoned on a busy road.

Unfortunately, this massive dog was extremely slippery.

April would hide in the cornfields to evade capture. "She was so timid that she was never going to come to anyone - even with food," Siddon recalled, so she and a few colleagues went ahead to set up traps.

April was successfully trapped on the 24th and Siddon learned how dire April's situation truly was. "She weighed 63 pounds," she said, adding April is possibly between 6 to 8 months old. A healthy Great Dane her age should weigh up to 120 pounds.

Luckily for April, her rescuer also worked at Clinton Pet Vet and a team was already on standby to rehabilitate her. "Dr. Price has always been wonderful [,..]  and my coworkers are amazing about helping me care for my rescues," Siddon praised. "They all loved April from the start."

Luckily, April's only health hurdle was her weight. "She was very healthy," Siddon explained, saying the team "ran bloodwork and a whole slew of other tests [...] and everything came back normal."  So, a plan was put into place to slowly reintroduce her to food.

That was when April showed she was a fighter.

With a dog who is that underweight we feed them small amounts of prescription bland food frequently so as to not overwhelm their systems.  She did very well with the refeeding right from the start.

Slowly but surely, the once scared pup began emerging from her shell, one timid and low tail wag at a time. Once she acclimated to her new surroundings, April began showing off the jubilant and sweet personality of "a big gangly teenager."

"She had legs flying everywhere and just bounced around like a puppy should," Siddon recalled of April playing with the vet techs for the first time. But there was one special person April was drawn to most.

From the very first day April really seemed drawn to one of our vet techs at work.  She seemed to trust her more than anyone else and the tech (who is planning to go to vet school)  seemed drawn to her as well.  Sometimes things just seem to work out as they were meant to be.

April is on a trial adoption to see if this is a match made in heaven, so Siddon is keeping her fingers crossed.

Siddon added April's case is one of the many success stories she's helped create.

She first volunteered at the greyhound rescue Kindred Spirits 25 years ago, which now takes in animals of all breeds. It also has a senior pet Love to Give Program, where old pets are diverted from shelters into loving foster homes.

She hopes that by sharing April's story, less dogs find themselves in the same predicament as her.

 I hope that April's story teaches people to think it through a little more before getting an animal.  I don't know why April was dumped but I suspect that someone bought a beautiful dog on a whim and then realized how much work she was going to be.  Dogs require your time and energy and patience.  They cost money to feed and care for.  They don't come as puppies fully trained. They chew things and take time to housebreak and need a lot of exercise. It's work.

While dogs are a labor of love, Siddon said volunteering at a rescue is also a massive and emotional undertaking.

"I wish that everyone understood that rescue is all volunteer.  We do it on top of our regular full time jobs as well as caring for our own pets and our families," she added. "We do it for the love of the animals and we don't get paid."

Despite not recieving any monetary compensation, Siddon can't imagine herself doing anything else. "It is extremely rewarding," she said of her countless rescue success stories.

April still has some ways to go before she is given a clean bill of health. "It will take quite awhile for her to put the weight back on that she should have but it's one of those things where slow and steady wins the race," Siddon said.

If you wish to support Siddon and Kindred Spirits Dog Adoption, you can make a donation or fundraise on their behalf via Mohawk Valley Gives or send the money directly via PayPal.

Kindred Spirits is active on Facebook, where you can track April's progress, as well as all their other rescues in need of a loving home.

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