Speranza Animal Rescue founder Janine Guido rushed to aid an unconscious dog left in a cardboard box in the cold after receiving a panicked call from her mother who found the dog on her porch and thought he was dead.
Guido revealed in a live Facebook video on Monday that she was driving to an emergency vet after her mom told her she’d found the dog. “If you didn’t watch the live video, my Mom called me in a panic because she found a ‘dead’ dog dropped on her porch in an Amazon box,” Guido wrote in an update. “Turns out this boy wasn’t dead, he was just unconscious (and barely breathing).”
The dog was covered in urine and feces and there was a note attached to the box.
“I have so many feelings right now,” Guido continued in her post. “But, I need to focus on one thing – this dog and his care. He’s not even a year old. Just a baby.”
As she drove the dog to the vet her emotions came through as she tells the dog, “Oh my God you’re all right baby you’re all right.”
The dog had a short seizure while in the car and was slipping in and out of consciousness.
The dog, who she named G.I. Joe, was immediately put on fluids to stabilize him and given medicine to stop the seizures.
G.I. Joe appears to be both blind and deaf but he responded to the medications and to being rehydrated. He was alert and could even stand with some help.
He went in for an MRI and a spinal tap as well because of his grand mal seizures. The doctor told Guido that G.I. Joe is “doing great.”
“I actually interrupted him because I thought he was talking about a different dog. NOPE. OUR boy is doing GREAT’!! HE’S UP AND EATING ON HIS OWN. This dog that was unresponsive yesterday and having violent seizures is UP AND EATING. I can’t stop crying. HAPPY tears,” she revealed a day later.
G.I. Joe does appear to have epilepsy and is now on a course of treatment. Guido revealed in her most recent live video that the dog’s owners have been located and said that although it was wrong how they dumped them she wants to focus on the positive.
She wisely says that it could have been so much worse – he could have been thrown in the dump where he wouldn’t have had a chance. Instead, he was left close to Speranza’s property. She says he’s making remarkable progress for a dog who just two days ago was unconscious and fighting for his life.
Guido later told a local news channel, “If you have a very ill dog that is literally on death’s door, take it to the vet. You can surrender it straight to the vet, and they can reach out to rescues, but don’t just dump it on somebody’s front door. Thank God he was found.”
That said, G.I. Joe has a long recovery ahead of him. If you’re able to donate towards his lifesaving care you can do so by visiting Speranza Animal Rescue’s website.
As of Wednesday, G.I. Joe has left the emergency veterinarian and is on his way to a foster home! Guido shared a video of her taking G.I. Joe home that shows him walking and sniffing and wondering what a leash is all about.
Guido shared, “GI Joe is going to a volunteers house for the night then to a wonderful foster tomorrow! He will have 2 canine brothers – one of them is blind like him. His foster momma is retired and also has experience with epileptic dogs! Sounds like the perfect situation for our sweet sweet boy.”