July 28, 2016 at 8:20 a.m.
Love for Josie: Community rallies around beagle dragged behind vehicle
Love for Josie: Community rallies around beagle dragged behind vehicle
By Kayla Thomason-
The beagle, named Josie, sustained serious injuries in the dragging incident June 29. Her former owner, James Merschdorf of Wabeno, is facing two misdemeanor charges in connection with the incident. According to the Forest Republican newspaper of Crandon, Merschdorf told police the dog must have jumped out of his car while he was driving.
Forest County district attorney Chuck Simono told the Republican Merschdorf's actions have been determined to be "negligent versus intentional" and thus he has been charged with misdemeanors rather than felonies.
Jay Schaefer, president of the Forest County Humane Society, sprang into action when he heard what happened to Josie.
"My cellphone rang and it was a sheriff deputy and he said 'we need your help getting this dog to the vet, can you come?' and he said something about it being drug, and so I kind of knew that I had maybe 20 minutes to pray and gather my thoughts before I got there," he said. "But when I got there she was extremely calm so basically I got permission from the owner, scooped her up and headed for French's (Homestead Veterinary Care) in Rhinelander and got on the phone and they kept people late that day to meet me."
The veterinarians were shocked by Josie's injuries, which covered most of the right side of her body. Her front leg had bone showing, the muscle had pulled away from the bone and she had an infection. The infection was flushed out, antibiotic gel applied and the next day the muscle adhered to the bone.
Josie also had necrotic skin covering the length of her body and scrapes on the tops of her paws.
"They were bad, very bad," Alison French, veterinarian and owner of French's Homestead Veterinary Care, said of the beagle's injuries.
"The day I was cutting her skin off I had tears in my eyes, I couldn't believe it," she said.
It took a week to get all the dead tissue off. Josie also had some dead muscle in her legs, which had to be removed.
Josie's wounds were larger than any of the pads in stock at the clinic, as they don't tend to large animals. An equine veterinarian stepped in and donated pads from its stock.
"Honestly, a huge thanks has to go out to Dr. (Michael) Graper, he's an equine vet here in town (Cornerstone Equine Services), because this happened on Fourth of July weekend and I don't carry 8-by-10-inch Telfa pads because I don't have big animals to take care of," French said. "And I knew he would (help) so I called him and asked if he had great big non-stick pads and he said 'well, I have 8-by-10s, is that too big?' and I said 'no, because literally the entire half of the dog is skinned.'"
Josie had 10-inch-by-8-inch Telfa non-stick pads placed on her side. They didn't cover her belly so smaller Telfa pads were placed there.
"We had to use four (pads) originally and some of the smaller ones and now we are down to two and that's almost overkill," French said.
The veterinarians have put a tremendous amount of care and effort into helping Josie heal.
Her treatment has included laser therapy, Silvadene with lavender oil added and intravenous antibiotics in the beginning. She is now on oral pills.
"I think both front and back (right legs) are probably going to have some type of surgery to release the tightness and scar tissue because it's harder for her to move as it's tightened up," French said.
She believes Josie will heal fine, that the majority of her fur will grow back and that she won't have a limp.
"Her outlook is great," said French. "It really all depends upon how much like actual hairless scar tissue that she is going to have left because that may require more upkeep - oils, lotions and she might have to live in a shirt, keep sunburn off and stuff like that."
Schaefer is amazed by Josie's progress.
"Thank God, just thank God," he said. "I mean it was 50/50 and we all felt it was worth trying just because she was such a nice dog and such a great attitude and those eyes."
The Northwoods community has taken an interest in Josie's story. Many are following her progress through Facebook.
Each post about Josie has an average of 40,000 views, with many likes/reactions, comments and shares.
Community members have also made monetary and gift donations to the sweet beagle, who, despite her injuries, sports plenty of smiles. She has received a nice bed, as well as toys and treats, and a comfy cone - which she has figured out how to remove.
French has been "floored" by Josie's progress and hopes that in a week or two the little dog can go to her forever home.
The Forest County Humane Society had quite a few people voice interest in adopting her when her story broke, but they wanted people to wait until the outcome was clear.
An emergency meeting was held Tuesday evening to look at applicants and choose Josie's new family.
Schaefer said the new owner, who has chosen to remain anonymous, is a perfect fit for the beagle.
"In my imagination, if I sat down and built a new owner for Josephine I don't think I could have imagined the one that came for us," he said, adding that the new owner lost a pet, a 15-year-old Labrador, several months ago and has been looking for a smaller companion.
Josie's medical bills, minus a discount the clinic gives the Forest County Humane Society, total $5,000, and donations are needed.
Juli Bauknecht, a 10-year-old Antigo girl who started a nonprofit organization called Caring Paws, has also stepped in to help.
Caring Paws has been a 501c3 for about a year, but the organization has been raising funds for animals for years, with the assistance of school staff and students.
Bauknecht has been gathering donations and will be holding an online auction to help raise funds for Josie's medical bills, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the cause. Any funds over the amount needed to cover Josie's medical bills will only be used for future medical emergencies within Forest County.
There will be baskets, packages, ceramics and more.
The online auction ends at noon on Aug. 20.
Over the weekend Juli had a setback when someone broke into her family's car.
"In Antigo someone smashed in our car and took $300 of my personal money, all of the donations were saved, but I was going to donate that to help Josie but my mom said she would gladly replace the funds," Juli said.
She felt horrible that someone took her money, and the criminal has not yet been apprehended.
"I just want them to know they really hurt me, they hurt Josie and I hope they forgive themselves and I forgive them," she said.
She said she cried when she heard Josie's story.
"I hope that she gets better. I hope that she's in a good home and I just hope that she has the best life ever, and we're still accepting donations to put in the raffles," she said.
This was her first time meeting Josie.
"It was a mix of very sad and happy, I'm happy that she's been doing so good but I'm so mad and sad that somebody did that," she said.
Juli has been an animal advocate since the age of 5 when she starting raising funds for a dog at the Winnebago County Emergency Rescue.
"I just really love animals, they're my best friend," she said.
She has a strong view on animal abuse and wants abusers to know how terrible their actions are.
"I just want people to know that's (animal abuse is) totally wrong and don't do it," she said.
She plans to become a veterinarian, politician or marine biologist.
To participate in the online auction, visit www.caringpawswi.com, under the "more" tab, "Josephine's auction."
To make donations to the Forest County Humane Society, visit http://www. forestcountyhumanesociety.org/#!donate/ctzx.
"Any extra funds that Julie and other people send for Josephine are going to be set aside in a special abuse-situation fund," Schaefer added, noting that any funds left over after Josie's bills are paid will go toward the care of a young shepherd mix found on the side of the road with a broken leg.
Kayla Breese may be reached at kayla@rivernews online.com.
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