# Need Held ASAP with my Dog that has been medically neglected by ex-wife



## baldjerry (Dec 27, 2015)

I have a very complex problem here with my dog that has major medical problems that I will list below. I was in a messy 3 year divorce and my ex-wife took my Dog which I had a contract of proof of ownership before marriage and where I live the in Illinois the Court System is Pathetic. 

I fell I should give you some details first about this and will try my best to keep it short as this is very complex. When she left she took my Dog that had bi-lateral hip dysplasia and one him did have corrective surgery when he was a puppy which turned out perfect, but was stated the other hip would need to be done at some point in time. 

I have finally gotten to see him for the very first time in 3 years as he was considered like children "Visitation Schedule". When I last saw him he was doing great running, playing, not problems at all.

Getting him the first day he would not eat, cannot run, has problems getting on a couch, and basically laid around lethargic. I got him into the Vet and here is a list of his problems revealed on an X Ray and she is awaiting for her expert to review some more she is not sure of:

* Problems with both hind limbs
* Has poor extension and flexion of his right hip (surgically fixed 2006)
* Left his hind limb has muscle wasting
* Arthritic Knee with a possible ruptured cruciate ligament 
* Unable to significantly extend or flex his left hip at all (hip that did not get surgery and was told it would need it someday)

* Radio graphs revealed he has Advanced Hip Dysplasia in Left hind hip and marked Osteoarthritis in his left knee
*It has not been ruled out that he will need surgery on his left hip or knee
* Awaiting to hear back from an expert radiologist on the placement of his hardware from his previous surgery
* It is looking like surgery for sure and of course a lot of rehab for him which I can do no problem, but her working and him alone. How???

He was started on Tramadol for Pain and Metcam an anti-inflammatory that he will need to take everyday and within just the past couple days he is eating again, walking around more, not laying down with his head down and has it up, and you can just see the difference in him like he now has relief.

My ex-wife only had him on Glucosamine with all these problems and will not answer when his hips were examined as they were supposed to be with signs of any problems. Now would you say with above those are serious problems??? Neglect???

We are starting with Conservative Therapy with pain control, laser therapy, and aqua therapy on a water treadmill to build up the muscle wasting and get muscle back in that hind leg

Here is the problem: With me only having him so many days which is next to nothing how is all this going to be done? I am retired as my career got cut short due to an injury and with her she works and he will be left alone with another dog and now a puppy pit bull. 

This divorce is a total mess as we have a Son and she will no communicate with me about him at all. Whenever he were to get ill it always happens with me. Last month me discovering an ear infection and off to the Pediatrician. This Monday me discovering 2 ear infections and of course me taking him to the Pediatrician again. Believe me this list goes on and on all the things I have had to do for him where she did not recognize it. Forgot to say I am a Paramedic and do read a lot of medical stuff and learned a lot more.

Tomorrow is going to be a total mess for me with the Attorneys getting involved as I feel this is Neglect and we even have a criminal code statue on Oweners Responsiblities and on part mentions this 

veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering;
and
(4) humane care and treatment.

Would anyone agree that she is in violation of this statue letting this get this far and saying nothing is wrong with him with all typed above from the Vet and it is just old age?

We have rescue shelters and everyone I contacted keeps passing the buck to one that I contacted and it is a shame that they simply just do not care, but I do.

I do have a Contract when I adopted him and can Surrender him as he is mine and where I adopted him from and he is Their dog and my dog and I am not to give him away per contract and bring him back to them. Do I Surrender him and then have a family member adopt him to keep him away from her?

I feel I already know her intentions with the way she is with what this will cost that when she has him she will just simply put him down not wanting to spend a penny because she is that cold hearted and money is everything to her and nothing else 
matters. 

I could go do a Police Report like I read all over the Internet, but with everyone else passing the buck will they as well? Will Animal Care and Control do anything?

I am in a dilemma and if you could past this post on and I know I am brand new and wanted to get this out because I want what is best for him and that is for him to run again like he use to. 

We do have a Specialty Veterinarian and this is all their field here and it is not cheap, but I do not care. The do hips, knee, spinal surgery, brain surgery, you name it they do it and this is not where you take your dog to get it shots every year. They are the Pro's

Can anyone that reads this pass this around and spread thew word because I know I am expecting a mess tomorrow and this was blatant neglect I feel for her to let him get in this condition being in pain, not eating, not climbing stairs, not running, and laying around all day, but now with pain meds he has changed a little bit and is eating.

It was like looking at his face like he was just waiting to die before he had some pain meds. I do not get how someone could change and be cold hearted, but I guess money does that to some people which it did her. 

Please Pass this around because tomorrow is a mess with the attorneys and I am going to request them to do a Motion to get this into court on how she left him in this condition doing nothing for him. It really doesn't surprise me because i control Our Sons Medical Care and she is Custodial Parent by the Courts, but that is a whole other issue with things she did that never came into court by the attorneys.


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## fourdogs (Feb 3, 2014)

How old is the dog? that would, for me, determine how much/how far I would go with treatment. I don't have any ideas for you, just want to say sorry to hear you and the pup are going through so much right now, and I hope the divorce destine' get too crazy


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## baldjerry (Dec 27, 2015)

He is 9 and medium breed and from what they say can go to 14 and I know what you mean how far do you go, but the Vet wants to go conservative for starters first and foremost get him out of the pain he has been in. She went all the way up to a high dose for his weight of Tramadol for him and Metacam for him and wants to work on building the wasted muscle back up first. I cannot leave him in pain that is for sure like I got him and cannot believe the ex did not notice any of this at all. Unbelievable!!!! Just the way he walks you can see that the left hind leg is touch the ground, but if you lift up on it the leg comes right up. I did a lot of research on this last night and see that he is using his front legs to bare his weight and his Right hind limb has all the pressure. Does the bunny hop up some stairs. I was there with the vet and seen the surgical side with the femur and hip in its socket, but the left it horrible.

It is one day at at time with keeping him comfortable and him eating again. 

I truly know what you mean about how far do you go with a 9 year old dog, but with all his problems they look like they contributed to each other the way it sounded. 

The divorce has been crazy that is for sure. Money.... That is all she cares about and that is her main goal in life. Hard to believe how they change, but know a lot of people through the same thing and get the same stories. 

Thanks for replying because my fear is she will not want to even try conservative therapy which is not that bad in cost and my worry is since he goes back and forth she will just put him down.


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## sydneynicole (Apr 2, 2015)

Is there nothing written up saying that the dog can't be euthanized without your consent? As a last ditch effort, I'd be calling all vets in the area and asking them to keep an eye out for her and a description of the dog, giving them a brief explanation and letting them know you are his owner, just as a fail safe, so that maybe they will recognize him and not allow her to have him put down. Most vets won't put an animal to sleep unless they feel it is the best option. A friend's mom tried to have her cat put down because she was struggling with incontinence, and the vet ended up taking and rehoming her.

If she is in possession of the dog I would think that your contract with the shelter may have been violated as it is, although there is probably a grey area involving the marriage/divorce. They may be able to write out some sort of statement that either you have to be in possession of the animal or it legally has to be returned to them. I would think that if you explained the situation to the shelter you would be able to surrender him and re-adopt, or have a family member re-adopt.

If you are sincerely worried about him being euthanized, it would be time to do what is best for the dog - even if that is surrendering your ownership, at least he would be in good hands. If I had to choose between keeping an animal or having its life ended by someone simply not willing to put in the time, I'd give it up.

I don't know if any of this was remotely helpful, but I wish you luck.


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## Rock knocker (Sep 14, 2015)

Hiring a lawyer over this is throwing away money. You're unlikely to receive any funds and it is unlilely that your ex wife will feel any sort of legal wrath. Best to keep the dog far away from any situation where she can claim ownership, and save your money for vet bills, not lawyer fees.


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## WonderBreadDots (Jun 26, 2012)

People on the internet really cannot offer you any real solid advice as to the laws of the state you live in. Surely your dog was included in the divorce decree, as dogs are considered property. You should be contacting your attorney and not strangers on the Internet. Your attorney knows the specifics of your divorce case and can lead you in the correct direction.


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## baldjerry (Dec 27, 2015)

You hit that right on the money. I do have a written contract with them and technically we have dual ownership. He belongs to the Shelter and he belongs to me. Per the contract I just cannot give him away to someone and he has to be returned to them. That is a thought I had is to take him there and tell them I cannot care for him with his medical needs, but my sister can. I surrender him to them and as soon as I sign that paper she signs the adoption papers making them and her now the legal owners of them per contract.


sydneynicole said:


> Is there nothing written up saying that the dog can't be euthanized without your consent? As a last ditch effort, I'd be calling all vets in the area and asking them to keep an eye out for her and a description of the dog, giving them a brief explanation and letting them know you are his owner, just as a fail safe, so that maybe they will recognize him and not allow her to have him put down. Most vets won't put an animal to sleep unless they feel it is the best option. A friend's mom tried to have her cat put down because she was struggling with incontinence, and the vet ended up taking and rehoming her.
> 
> If she is in possession of the dog I would think that your contract with the shelter may have been violated as it is, although there is probably a grey area involving the marriage/divorce. They may be able to write out some sort of statement that either you have to be in possession of the animal or it legally has to be returned to them. I would think that if you explained the situation to the shelter you would be able to surrender him and re-adopt, or have a family member re-adopt.
> 
> ...


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## baldjerry (Dec 27, 2015)

Believe me I know they are the worst with what they charge and how they can sleep at night with what they do to people I have no idea. It funny you can get married for like 35.00 and do it in one day and they drag out divorces with letters back and forth with each other, conferences, stupid phone calls, wanting documents you have already sent them. They do not like it when you have the saved email and forward it back to them and of course you get the excuse "we just found it". All they are is about taking money from your bank account and getting into theirs. I have the college to go to law school, but their is no way I could ever do that. They are cold blooded and I am not.


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## baldjerry (Dec 27, 2015)

I know that and already found the statue and where I live they can make laws like 30 pages plus, but his one is quite simple and has "Owners Duties" (3) Veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering;and(4) humane care and treatment. But do I really want to go that route? The one person that put up a post hit that on the money though and that has crossed my mind. Since it is a dual ownership with me and the adoption agency and I cannot give him away per the way the contract is written that may be a great option to surrender him and just have my sister adopt him as soon as I sign.


WonderBreadDots said:


> People on the internet really cannot offer you any real solid advice as to the laws of the state you live in. Surely your dog was included in the divorce decree, as dogs are considered property. You should be contacting your attorney and not strangers on the Internet. Your attorney knows the specifics of your divorce case and can lead you in the correct direction.


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## baldjerry (Dec 27, 2015)

I have not been on here for a while due to being very ill with this cold that is the worst I have every had in my life. The latest update is her Vet states their is absolutely nothing wrong with him, and took him off his pain medication and put him on a cheap anti-inflammatory. Took him to the Specialty Vet where you get referred to as they are the experts with all the extra education they did to get the titles they have after their name. 

The verdict is his ACL, which I found out in a dog they actually call a CCL has been torn/ruptured for a couple months and did not heal correctly and needs to be surgically repaired due to that and all the scar tissue that is there. 

Hard to believe that this turned into something for a Judge to decide on as I went once with all the paperwork from the Vet's and the Specialty Vet with what she wrote could not understand half of the medical terminology she used. Being a Paramedic I can usually read whatever a Doctor writes and put most of it together, but this... WOW.... She did write a letter all in simple layman terms of all his problems and even says cannot fix it all with his age, but the CCL needs to be repaired to get him out of pain and give him a good quality of life with the rest being managed by simple pain medications. 

So right now I have my dog, well actually she does right now in pain and claims nothing is wrong with him according to her Vet. Not sure what kind of Vet this is but how do they explain the hind limb muscle wasting in one leg and limping on that leg? I am sure everyone knows if you are not using a muscle you lose it and it going to go away and why would you limp on a good leg? 

Glad I know the name of the place because I would never take any animal there and I am not a Vet, but muscle wasting away and limping and their is nothing wrong? I wonder where this Vet got their license from or is just saying it because they know her.

Anyways, my Vet saw something wrong and had her suspicions what was wrong, but was not 100% sure to make the diagnosis as why she said to get the experts opinion of the Specialist that expanded their education past being just a General Vet and she knew exactly what it was just by looking at the x-ray and doing things with him. 

The way I see it is I would let my General Doctor do certain things for me, but if something was major she would refer me to a Specialist, hence why we have Specialist that specialize in one area of practice and that is all they do. Like I said before this turned into a Court issue and it is a total joke that it had to come to this. 

Well, time to read some posts like I did before I got sick to try to help people out with problems I have had with training and things I have been through with my dogs in the past to try to help them out before I got ill.


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