The Last Resort
Rescue   \

This page is dedicated to Hercules. We rescued him from certain death in WV after he endured 8 + years of severe neglect! If you scroll to the bottom of this page and work your way up, you can see him when he arrived and the miraculous transformation he has made since. Our president, Nancy spent many months fostering and rehabbing him. She has since adopted him.

 In Herc's Eyes

8/10

Grizz in front with Diesel, Herc & Sugar in the back 

Diesel & Herc, Great friends!

4/10

Hercky, Grizz and Quasi (foster) laying in the spring grass on a warm April afternoon! Ahhhh, life is goooood!

                                                                        3/10

Sleepy heads on a cold March morning! Grumpy old men, but best of friends!

2/10 

Chloe and Herc, just Chillin'

Christmas 09

9/5/09

9/1/09

                             Nancy and Herc....can you feel the love?? LOL

8/5/09

Here are some photos of our Hercky Boy with Oscar. A kitten that was found by a postal carrier who Nancy has been taken care of since he was just 10 days old!!

5/25/09

Hercky at the park with Chloe

5/17/09

Here are some photos of our Hercky boy at our garage sale fundraiser.

5/12/09

Here are some new photos of our Hercky boy!! Too cute!!!!

3/24/09

Hercules says Hi Everyone!!!!! And he wants everyone to know that he's the happiest boy in the whole wide world!!!! Thank you for being such wonderful people who really care!!

1/4/09

Happy 2009 from Hercules!  Although 2008 was the best year of his life as that's the year he was rescued, 2009 will be even better as it will be an entire of year of being spoiled!! Which reminds me!! What a fabulous Christmas he had!!

Here is a couple photos and videos of our handsome Herc playing in the yard today!! He is doing so well!! Thank everyone for thinking of him and keeping him in your hearts!

12/20/08

Hercules would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy holiday season.  He also wants to thank you all for caring about him.  He went to the vet last and has gained another 5lbs.  Each week he puts on about 5lbs!! He is doing wonderful!!  We are so happy that he will be celebrating his 1st Christmas with a family and not alone outside in the cold.

See also our short, not so great quality, video of our boy running like a young puppy in the snow!!

12/7/08

Here is a video of our Hercules playing in Nancy's yard while Samantha videotapes!

12/02/08

Hercules was weighed in at the Vet today and gained another 4 lbs!! Hooray!

11/22/08

Here is a picture of Hercules and his foster brother Brody (who was recently adopted through The Last Resort) asleep by the fire.

Here is a picture of Hercules with Nancy's daughter Sage.

11/20/08

Today was Hercules' third vet appointment. He has gained another 3 lbs and other than his low iron, his bloodwork is looking great today. He got another big dose of worming meds. He was very happy to get back in his bed in the back of Nancy's jeep and go home to sleep in front of his fireplace.   He continues to eat lots of good food and sleeps most of the time but has started to wag his tail just a little and will even occasionally play with a ball or stuffed toy for a couple minutes.  He will go back to the vet next month and at that point if his iron level is good, he will finally be neutered.

11/18/08

Now that Herc is a bit stronger , Nancy took him and Grizz for a little outing. Here are some pictures of Hercules with his brother Grizz at Wawayanda State Park this morning. 

11/16/08-11/17/08

Hercules came with us to the Edison, NJ Super Pet Expo this weekend. He was in heaven with all the attention he was getting.  Pics to be posted shortly.

11/13/08

Today was Hercules' second vet appointment to check the status of his anemia and see if he was gaining weight with all that raw meat and good food he was eating for 2 weeks. Unfortunately he had only gained 3 lbs, weighing in at 98.9 lbs, apparently his body is just taking its time getting back into gear.

His blood showed that the anemia is much better but still his iron was so very low he is now on an iron supplement.  His still poor condition is improving slowly!  And he can now lift his head and jump in and out of the jeep on his own. Still so very broken but coming around.

Home from the vet and nestled by the fire in his favorite spot. 

11/8/08-11/9/08

Hercules came with us to the Super Pet Expo in Suffern, NY at Rockland Community College.  He attracted so much attention he even made it in the newspaper.  Please read the article here.  There is even a video to enjoy!! Pics to be posted shortly.

10/29/08

Today was Hercules' first vet appointment, his spirit still broken, not knowing how to wag his tail or lift his head in interest, but stoic and eager to see and smell everything.  A dog that should normally weigh almost 200lbs weighs in at only 95.9 lbs (3 lbs more than he weighed a week prior at the shelter).

As Nancy suspected,  he has a pretty severe heart murmur, but thankfully no heartworms. He was so severely anemic, his red blood cell count, protein levels, and iron were not even registering on the lab tests.  He has advanced lyme disease and anaplasmosis (another tick-borne disease), and was so severely malnourished and emaciated from years of starvation and neglect, the vets all agreed that he didnt have long to live!   He was infested with fleas, hookworms and whipworm,  deep skin infections from prolonged flea allergy dermatitis with huge bald patches and infections in his skin, scared inflammed, infected ears, and could barely get up or move his head. One of the vets even suggested euthanizing him might be more humane. Nancy doesnt give up that easy. He came home that night exhausted and slept for over 10 hours.

He is on medication for the lyme disease, vitamin supplements, glucosamine and lots of raw meat!

10/28/08

Nancy drove to WV late at night during a terrible blizzard. He ate, and slept all the way back to NJ. When they arrived at Nancy's house, they took him for a walk before bringing him inside for the first time in his life.  When they brought him up to the front door, he didn't even know how to walk through it, he was scared to go through the door, he tried to go underneath it!! This poor thing has never been inside of anywhere :(  

10/27/08

 Nancy called and spoke to the shelter, who felt his days were very numbered. He could barely stand up or lift his head. They said it was kindest to euthanize him humanely. But Nancy thought that even if his days were numbered that we had to make whatever days he had left, the BEST DAYS OF HIS LIFE, especially after he waited so long to get off his torturous tether. Nancy set off in a blizzard for WV to pick up this beautiful soul. 

10/26/08

We received the email begging for help for Hercules (see below)

To: Thelastresortnj

Subject: Jefferson County, WV - Please help Hercules - Senior St. Bernard - emaciated and flea covered
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:38:35 -0400
Hercules was turned over to Animal Control by his owners because they
admitted that the dog had not been to a vet since he was a puppy and they
could not adequately care for him.  Hercules is 9 years old.  He has actually been living a couple of houses down from mine in a junk yard.  I have lived in my home for 5 years now and Hercules has always been tied out to his dog house.  He has never been taken inside, even in the winter. Unfortunately WV does not have tethering laws, so Animal Control could do nothing about the situation.  Fortunately, yesterday, Hercules got off his chain and went for a stroll around the neighborhood.  This prompted calls to Animal Control and when Animal Control arrived and Hercules still had not returned home, they threatened the owners with a citation for Running At Large.  Hercules' owner decided to turn Hercules over to Animal Control rather than take the citation.  Hercules' owner told Animal Control that her son was responsible for the dog's care due to her disability and that she was tired of fighting with her son to get him to feed Hercules on a regular basis.

Hercules is now with Animal Control and we are doing the best we can for him, given the limited resources.  Jefferson County won't pay for vet care for dogs that aren't in immediate danger of death so we have no way of knowing exactly what is going on with Hercules except for the obvious things that we can see.  Hercules is emaciated and covered in fleas.  His hair is thin and patchy in places from what looks like flea dermatitis, and the base of his tail is red and swollen.  We have applied flea medication to Hercules and are in the process of worming him.  He's truly a gentle giant and is enjoying the attention he is getting.  We would love to be able to get Hercules to a vet to find out if there are more, underlying, medical issues, but we do not have the money to do so.

If anyone is able to help us raise the funds we need for Hercules' vet care,
please visit Jefferson County Animal Control's Petfinder home page, scroll
down to the "How you can Help" heading and click on the donate button.
Donations are made through Happy Whiskers Animal Assistance (my personal rescue) and are tax deductible. We estimate that Hercules' vet visit will cost about $200+ with bloodwork, medications and possible X-rays that may be needed if his bloodwork shows any abnormalities or possible signs of cancer.

Obviously, at 9 years old, Hercules could be suffering from any number of medical issues.

We are also looking for a rescue that may be able to take Hercules in and
get him to their vet for a check up.  Since Hercules is an owner surrender,
he is available for enthanasia immediately.  Time is of the essence.

I've attached photos of Hercules so that you can see his current condition.
Please contact me if you can help in any way.
Hercules is 9 years old and is intact.

PLEASE CROSSPOST

Travelocity Promotional Codes