Quinn, a 4-year-old blue nose pit bull, was found tied to a tree on the side of a road in Austin, Texas last August. She was dehydrated, underweight and was wearing a diaper. Beside her was a handwritten note from her owner, explaining she had an infection of her "repro organs” and was in pain, and asked if someone could drive her to the shelter. Luckily, a good Samaritan found Quinn and rushed her to Prairie Creek Animal Hospital where they discovered a life-threatening health condition.
A volunteer from Austin-based New Hope Animal Rescue (NHAR) happened to be in the waiting room of the pet hospital when Quinn and her rescuer walked in that morning, pleading for help. The volunteer immediately called the director of NHAR who would soon find out the seriousness of Quinn's condition, and the rescue would make a quick decision to save her life.
“We had to decide if she should just go to the shelter or if we should take her in,” NHAR Director Kelley Rice told the Austin Journal. “The shelter didn’t open until 11 and even then, could they provide surgery immediately? We didn’t think she would survive if she waited.”
Quinn arrives at Prairie Creek Animal Hospital in a diaper. Photo courtesy of New Hope Animal Rescue.
Without a foster home lined up, or knowing anything about Quinn, New Hope took a leap of faith.
The vets at Prairie Creek immediately knew that Quinn had Pyometra, a deadly infection of the uterus. They performed an emergency surgery that saved her life. Based on bloodwork and what they found during surgery, they said she had likely endured this very painful infection for over six months and would not have survived another day without surgery.
“This condition is a chronic infection of the uterus that would lead to overwhelming infection and death. [Quinn] was very sweet, calm and was obviously a dog someone loved and just could not care for,” said Dr. Rodney Poling, the veterinarian who performed the surgery at Prairie Creek. “The good thing about the surgery is that it solved the problem and returned the dog to good health quickly with no long-term damage.”
Rice said Quinn is lucky the person who stopped had good intentions.
“We try not to think about how long she was tied to that tree and how many people may have passed her before someone stopped to help,” Rice said. “We are so grateful that Prairie Creek Animal Hospital partnered with us to save her life. Dr. Poling did her surgery at a very low cost for us and kept her an additional night so we could work on finding a foster home.”
While Quinn was undergoing surgery, NHAR — a foster-based rescue — scrambled to find her a foster home. After seeing an urgent plea on social media, Megan Lopez stepped up and opened her home to Quinn.
“I saw NHAR’s plea for a foster for Quinn shortly after my senior pittie had passed away. I immediately felt called to help her as a way to heal my own broken heart,” Lopez told Austin Journal.
Lopez said their first days together were slow and quiet as Quinn recovered from surgery, but it didn’t take long for her to show how much love she had to give.
“Her squishy face breaks into a big ol’ smile as soon as it's time for back scratches and belly rubs,” Lopez said. “Now she’s so playful, loving and just genuinely happy to be with people.”
Having made a full recovery, Quinn is enjoying a happy, healthy, pain-free stay in her foster home. While she is safe in temporary foster care, Quinn is still looking to be adopted into her forever home.
Quinn is described as a “unicorn dog” by her foster parents because she is so well mannered and easy to train, but she has not gotten much adoption interest. NHAR Director Kelley Rice thinks this is largely due to her breed and the misrepresentation of pit bulls.
“Don’t be fooled by her tough looking exterior,” Rice said. “Quinn is a big softy on the inside who loves to snuggle and who loves meeting new people.“
The lucky pit bull currently lives with children and two dogs — one of which is a 9-week-old puppy.
“We recently took in an orphaned puppy and Quinn slid right into the maternal caregiver role,” Lopez said. “Seeing a new side of her has been such a joy.”
Lopez describes Quinn as “the perfect mix of mellow snuggle bug and playful companion” and said she does very well in her crate, enjoys car rides and loves to be wherever “her humans” are.
“I just can’t believe she hasn’t been adopted yet,” Lopez said. “She deserves a family who can appreciate all that she has to offer — and lots of toys!”
Those interested in adopting Quinn can visit nhanimalrescue.org/adoption-information. To view other animals for adoption, visit nhanimalrescue.org/adoptable-dogs, and for information about NHAR, visit nhanimalrescue.org.
NHAR is a breed-inclusive dog and cat rescue in Austin, Texas. The small nonprofit saves the lives of animals that are at risk of being killed in shelters in the Greater Austin area and beyond. As a completely foster-based rescue with no shelter space, New Hope relies heavily on foster parent volunteers and donations.