Louie and His Guardian Angel

With less than 24 hours to live at a shelter in Los Angeles and very serious, expensive medical needs, 4-year-old Louie needed a guardian angel. Luckily, his mom stumbled across his pictures on Instagram and dropped everything to go all the way from Maryland to LA to save him. Now she is helping him in his battle against squamous cell carcinoma with financial support from FETCH a Cure’s Companions in Crisis program.

Read more about Louie’s incredible story from his mom:

I stumbled upon Louie while on Instagram. He looks very similar to a female dog that my boyfriend owns, and we are very close. He is the male version of her and gorgeous. Louie’s previous owner neglected him so bad and made him an ‘outdoor only’ dog. I flew to LA to save him from euthanasia. But Louie’s doctor here in Maryland says that he has skin cancer due to being in the California sun his entire life. The oncologist says the best course of action is to completely remove Louie’s penis and any cancer surrounding that area. He is very lovable and sweet. He is so loyal and still a bit confused at my love and kindness to him. He was clearly never cared for, the vet says that he barely has any teeth because he was neglected outside and chewed on rocks and sticks out of boredom, hunger and neglect. I wanted to save Louie and show him that all humans are not bad. I am attaching two Instagram links that really tell Louie’s story.

View this post on Instagram

If you’re a volunteer, rescuer or networker, you’ve surely seen comments on instagram like “I want to help this dog—but I live in Maryland. Someone please go save him—he only has 48 hours to live”. Or maybe you’ve seen “I want to help this dog but I can’t—I have children” or “I have other dogs” or “I don’t have extra money”. There are tons of people with huge hearts out there. What most of them don’t understand is how many dogs need rescuing (because they have hard exit dates). People really don’t think about how much it can cost if the dog needs medical treatment and/or training. They can’t understand why a rescue just can’t save this dog..or someone can’t adopt that dog. A little Valentine’s Day treat: There’s something very cool that happened with a shelter dog and a very determined woman (@idreamofkari ). I’ve never met her in real life. We share the same name—and the same passion to help dogs. She has two pitties, and she recently discovered her passion for rescuing dogs. But, because of her line of work, she has been blocked by some rescues and IG users.People don’t take her seriously. She lives in Maryland. She has kids. She doesn’t have a lot of extra money. And, when she saw Lewie #A1922870 at South on @warmheartsproject instagram post—she couldn’t get him out of her mind. Not knowing anyone in California, she started reaching out to all the rescues she could find. She begged and pleaded for anyone to take on Lewie. Kari had been following me for a while, and added me to a group chat with about 20 other people. She explained that Lewie looked like her boyfriend’s dog, and she just needed to save him. A few rescues went to look at Lewie, and because of his medical issues (masses—including one bad one on penis), and his behavior notes…none of the rescues could afford to take him. This didn’t stop Kari…she called the shelter directly and spoke to ACTs and then to medical. They agreed to give Lewie a two day extension. While the rest of us were trying to network Lewie, Kari decided she was going to drive out to LA and get him. She quickly realized it was going to take too long to drive to LA…(continued in comments)

A post shared by Rumi (@rumi_rescues) on

The doctor who diagnosed Louie’s skin cancer had this to share about Louie’s Story: “He is a sweet boy who was surrendered to a shelter in LA in February because of a large tumor along his prepuce that was due to sunning himself. His owner drove from MD to LA to rescue him and then the pandemic hit and her business was significantly affected. Louie is a wonderful dog and the owner is trying to give him a fair chance.”
 
Louie is scheduled to have amputative and reconstructive surgery tomorrow to remove the affected area. With financial support from FETCH a Cure and the care of his amazing family, we’re hoping this sweetheart will start feeling better soon. Every pup deserves a second chance, and we’re so grateful we can be part of Louie’s journey to a healthier, happier life.

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