Published: October 19, 2009 10:56 pm         

Pilots N Paws program keeps cost down for injured pets' owners

TERRE HAUTE — Heidi the stray German Shepherd will get a new chance at finding a loving family, thanks to a two-state effort to by animal rescue experts, a private pilot and a Wabash Valley animal clinic.

Heidi, estimated at around 2 years old, arrived Sunday at the Honey Creek Animal Hospital with a broken hip.

“She doesn’t seem to be in a lot of pain,” veterinarian Michael Staub said Monday, “but she has no real range of motion for that leg.”

Heidi had been hit by a vehicle about a month ago in the Chicago area, and a German Shepherd rescue group took in the canine in hopes of finding her medical treatment and rehabilitation.

Through networking among animal rescue groups, the Chicagoland Shepherd Rescue located the Paul Warner Rescue in Paris, Ill., and found that Staub, a veterinarian for more than 20 years, was willing to donate his services to help Heidi.

“There is a big wheel of people involved,” said Hellie Smith of the Paul Warner Rescue. “Without each other, we couldn’t have got it done. Dr. Staub is donating the surgery and rehab. Pilot Mark Kozak flew her down here through the Pilots N Paws program. Heidi couldn’t come down here without Pilots N Paws.”

Dr. Staub agreed that the pilot volunteer was an essential part of the process, because transporting Heidi in an auto would have been too stressful for the animal.

“I think it’s great to have people willing to use their time and money to do things like that,” Staub said of Kozak.

Heidi was able to limp around Monday at the veterinary clinic, and she had a friendly attitude with strangers. She was no longer the timid stray that had been on the streets for three months. She is obviously underfed now, but with some attention will be an adoptable canine.

Chicagoland rescue volunteers tried to catch her many times so they could prepare her for adoption. It wasn’t until Heidi had been hit by a car a second time that she was injured enough to let herself be caught.

“To fix a hip, it is an outrageous cost up there,” Smith said of veterinary services in the Chicago area. So finding a veterinarian willing to donate medical services was a blessing.

Dr. Staub is planning to operate to remove Heidi’s broken hip bone today. He also plans to spay her.

In a few days, he said, she will be going through rehabilitation, and he predicted it will take only a couple months before she is ready to be adopted.

Adoption offers for Heidi are already coming in. Anyone interested in giving her a home can fill out an adoption application at Honey Creek Animal Hospital, or contact Smith at (217) 822-6060.

For more information about animal rescues, visit www.PaulWarnerRescue.com.



Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.