For the Love of Lexi

Lexi, a 10-year-old brindle pit-bull mix, has been living here at Advanced Animal Care since October 2016 as part of the East Cooper Pet Relief Rescue Program. ECPR is a non-profit organization headed by Dr. Leslie Steele. Lexi has struggled with lifelong anxiety, mainly separation anxiety and fear of unknown people and dogs. This results in some territorial aggression, aggression when walked on a leash and destructive behavior when left alone. Her former family loved her dearly and were able to manage and live with her issues, but for a variety of reasons, were not able to treat her anxiety. Life eventually changed for the family as they have aged and retired, making living with her anxiety and resulting aggression too difficult for them to manage. They were going to have her euthanized because they could not see her continuing to live with the fear she has as well as the concerns for safety and liability.

Rather than euthanizing her, the family allowed Dr. David Steele to take her in, work with her behavior and find her a new home. For the last two months, Dr. Steele has been incorporating behavior modification therapy in conjunction with anxiety meds, and her progress has been superb! We believe she has reached a point where she is now ready to go live with someone and continue to work on her behavior. This ideal family would not have a dog and would be willing to continue behavior therapy exercises such as Counterconditioning and Desensitization, guided by Dr. David Steele. East Cooper Pet Relief will continue to fund all of Lexi’s medical care as well as monthly heartworm and flea medication. The foster family will only need to worry about providing a loving home, reinforcing behavior therapy and feeding her. We are also open to the idea of adoption if the foster family and Dr. Steele both agree it would be in the best interest of Lexi and the family.

Lexi is very sweet and affectionate. She attaches quickly to people, and loves being lazy. The staff and doctors here at Advanced Animal Care have become quite attached to this sweet pup. We know that she will need someone who is understanding and compassionate. Someone who is willing to try to understand her and love her for all her quirks and personality traits. If you are interested in providing a warm and loving foster home for Lexi, please contact AAC at (843)884-9838. You can also email Dr. Steele directly (preferably) at david.steele@aacmp.com.

 

100 Years of Breed “Improvement”

Science and Dogs

Everyone is free to copy this – in whole or in part – and slap it on their website without telling me about it. All I ask is that the work is properly attributed.

 If you come across this work without it being attributed to me (in any language) it’s plagiarism. Please use the Feedback/Contact form to let me know.

View original post 859 more words

An Open Letter to Our Clients

  We had it all wrong.  In 2001, Leslie and I opened Advanced Animal Care of Mount Pleasant.  The very name was chosen to emphasize that our practice was progressive, on the technological forefront of our field.  We wanted to be the practice that was …

Check out our cute kitties!

Here are a few pictures of our wonderful cats who live here at AAC. Darwin, Jax, and Daya are actually AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION! They are spayed/neutered, up-to-date on vaccines, and are current on heartworm & flea prevention. We deeply love and care for these guys, so if you are interested, please fill out an adoption questionnaire.  Feel free to call us anytime with questions on our adoption process at 843-884-9838.

 

Bert

Darwin

Daya

Ernie

Jax

Marshall

Beverly (not available for adoption)

“The Best Things in Life are Rescued”

  We have quite a few cats, ranging from all ages, looking for loving homes. All of the cats we take in come from either abusive homes, were abandoned by their caregivers, or were found living on the streets to fend for themselves. The younger …

Diabetic Senior Kitty Found A Family with AAC Staff

Beverly was left to fend for herself outdoors when left behind by family. She came into our clinic by a kind person who wanted to see her have a chance at a better life. She was very sick and suffering from a longtime fight with …

Proposed Bill to Affect Pet Care

Dear friends,

As many of you may already know, there has been a bit of a storm brewing in the veterinary community of South Carolina and the rest of the country over the issue of low-cost practices and rescue organizations providing  medical services i.e. spay/ neuter, vaccinations, parasite treatment and microchip implantation.  The concern of some of our veterinarian colleagues is that their income may be compromised by these organizations which have an unfair advantage of providing these services at a sometimes significantly discounted price due to less stringent regulation and various subsidizing resources.

As veterinarians and practice owners, Leslie and I fully understand our colleague’s concern and agree on some of the issues; however we are very concerned about this proposed legislation.  We have always worked hard to promote better health and care for the animals of our community, both the ones with a family and those without.  We also are painfully aware of the many animals that go uncared for, that are neglected, that are homeless and are in homes in which the people do not have the means to fully and properly care for them.

Leslie and I are concerned that this animal welfare legislation S.687  has very little to do with promoting or improving the welfare of animals and more about protecting the veterinary communities own financial interest.  Our greatest concern is the restriction of the ability of nonprofit organizations and other animal welfare groups to reach and care for those that are currently not being cared for.  We know there are many pets in our community that are not under the care of a veterinarian due to a multitude of reasons (financial, transportation, education, etc.) which as a result of this legislation will now be “untouchable” by organizations that are designed specifically to provide care for those pets.  These are pets that would not darken the door of a veterinary office to begin with, but if this legislation passes, would now not be able to get the care so very much needed.  All because of the action of the community that took an oath to care for them!

Leslie and I are passionate about our calling.  We are also disheartened by the organization and community that we love being a part of.  We, however, are not politicians or understand what it is to be an activist, so we are reaching out to those that we know and respect who are of similar mind and are asking for your help.  Please contact your senator (Lawrence Grooms or Paul Campbell, Jr of Berkeley & Charleston counties)  that is on the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources  and let them know about your concern.  We would love to hear from you about your thoughts and opinions and of course any advice and help you may have on what we can do to make this a better piece of legislation.

Sincerely,

David Steele, DVM   Leslie Steele, DVM

Veterinarians/Owners of Advanced Animal Care of Mount Pleasant