Cleveland, OH
ADOPTED! September 4, 2013
Red Ruby is a 5 year old, 80 pound, red and rust Doberman. She was surrendered by her owner who could no longer keep her due to a house fire that lead to her disability and loss of her job. Ruby was owned since she was 8 weeks old and she was obviously raised with lots of love and compassion. Her owner contacted several Doberman-specific rescues in the tri-state area and one of her emails made it into our inbox. After reading her story we had to step up and help.
A few weeks before making the decision to rehome her, Ruby’s owner noticed she was having some trouble with her vision and took her to the vet to have it checked out. The vet determined she was blind and the owner was unable to care for a special needs dog. After hearing her story, hearing about her vision loss and seeing the patchy fur issues our assumption was she was a thyroid or diabetes candidate which could have led to her vision problems. We agree to take her. One of our volunteers helped get her to our facility and shortly after she arrived we took her to Gateway Animal Clinic for a full health check and blood draw to determine her issues. Her vision is certainly impaired with cataracts and we are hoping we can raise the money to give her vision back to her. 
Dr. Brian called to let us know the results and she has a low thyroid and she is diabetic. We are starting her on insulin to get her sugars leveled and the hope is that in the next month or two we can see the doctors in Copley who can help us with the cataract surgery to correct her vision loss. Given her age and otherwise good health, we are committed to Ruby and will continue our mission to respect the dog.
Ruby stayed with our Exectutive Director for a short time while we secured a foster home. The first few days she bumped into a few walls and learned how to go up and down steps with voice assistance. She likes other dogs and quickly started to map things out in her temporary home. She then transferred to a new, more permanent foster home (we hope they will adopt) and is living with a Great Dane and a cat. She has mapped out her new home, a ranch, and claimed a spot next to the bed at night to sleep in. She also has made herself comfortable on the couch.
We are taking Ruby and Carmela, another partially blind dog in our program, to the Eye Care For Animals clinic in Akron on August 8th. Ruby’s eye surgery is expected to cost $3,000 and there is additional funding needed for her insulin, thyroid medicine and spay surgery. If you would like to help with Ruby’s surgery by making a financial contribution for her care please donate from our home page or send a check to:
Secondhand Mutts
c/0 Red Ruby Fund
2603 Scranton Road
Cleveland, OH 44113
We truly appreicate your support and are committed to all of our dogs medical conditions. We currently have 3 special cases we are fundraising for: Ruby, Carmela and Monkee all need public monetary assistance.
2013 Dog Adoption Fee: $200
Adoption fees cover your dog being fully vaccinated, heartworm tested, spayed or neutered, health checked, temperament tested, micro-chipped and socialized.
