Tyrion is Safe!

Tyrion was named Josh at the local Los Angeles shelter, and shortly after his arrival, we received notification that he had been picked up as a stray. A stray senior GSP with a microchip. We thought certainly his owner would come to claim him. Viewing the initial photos, he didn't look to be in good shape and we were certain he would need some medical attention if he went unclaimed, but we remained optimistic the owner would pick him up. Because Tyrion had a microchip, he was held for ten days. Twice as long for dogs without microchips. Plenty of time for his owner to visit the local shelter and find him.As his available date neared, we contacted the shelter to see if they had been able to reach the owner and if anyone had shown any interest in adopting him. Sadly, the shelter was unable to contact the owner and no one had shown any interest in adopting him. Planning that Tyrion would be made available for adoption, we let the shelter know we would rescue him.Just before we headed to the shelter, we received an email from the shelter. It was a request from someone that had been monitoring Tyrion to contact them. While they weren't in a position to take Tyrion, they wanted to help with his medical bills. We reached out to Maureen and let her know our plan to visit the shelter and rescue Tyrion. She informed us that she had been collecting pledges to assist whomever adopted him with the medical bills. We were grateful as we knew one of the first stops would be to see Dr Kang and have him assessed.Arriving at the shelter, we found Tyrion laying on his bed inside the kennel. When Greg the volunteer called to him, he came to the fence to investigate. Tyrion didn't look good.  While the Vet at the shelter had removed a cherry eye, his coat appeared dull with patches of hair missing. He had a wart on his muzzle and several lumps. His skin hung as if he had lost a lot of weight quickly - this was concerning as dogs that lose weight quickly are usually sick.By now we suspected that Tyrion didn't stray from his house but was most likely dumped by his owner that didn't want to, or couldn't pay for his medical care. Unfortunately, judging by the number of senior strays at the shelter, this is all too common practice for some pet owners. How someone can own a dog for ten plus years and not take care of them, is beyond us but so is the dog owner that would leave a senior dog on the streets to fend for themselves.Fortunately, there are individual like Maureen, Lisa, Madeline, Nancy, & Matthew that monitor the shelters, and while we were unaware prior to committing, pledges were made to assist with medical bills. California GSP Rescue is committed to seeing that no German Shorthaired Pointer perish in a shelter, especially the seniors and the ones needing medical attention. We are grateful for those individuals that helped pledge to assist with Tyrion's medical bills.While Volunteer Greg waited at the shelter for Tyrion to get evaluated and the paperwork completed, he couldn't help but notice some of the other dogs like Tyrion that wouldn't be claimed by their owners, but whose only hope was for a rescue to free them. The older dogs aren't the dogs counted in the adoption numbers of the shelters. Those numbers are typically the younger dogs, that when not claimed by their owners, are adopted shortly after being made available. Today, Tyrion would be included in those adoption numbers. Tyrion is safe. Naming Tyrion. Some will recognize the name immediately but for those that do not, Tyrion is the name of a character in Games of Thrones. Tyrion, the character, once said, “I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things.” Tyrion, the dog,  was rescued the day the last episode Game of Thrones aired. He has since been examined by Dr Kang. We will have more about his diagnosis and prognosis very soon.If you would like to assist California GSP Rescue, consider becoming a Rescue Hero.