Santiago

My story

Meet Santiago ACCT-A-219305! Santiago was brought to ACCT by police on 5/2 after being found as a stray. Members of the public reported seeing him running through South Philly for hours before he was finally picked up. Since arriving, Santiago has been very shut down, but he's doing his best to be brave in this unfamiliar environment. Behavior Notes: Per staff 5/8: “Gave vaccines in staff office. Put some spray cheese on the floor, and Santiago was very happy to lick it up while I gave vaccines. No restraint needed.” Per staff 5/8: “Santiago has been in the animal care office now for about two days. He generally will not approach and prefers to hide but he has moments where he feels comfortable enough to use his bed which is out in the open. He has periods of increased fear where he chatters and shakes, he's very submissive and does give appeasement signals. Low tail wags, panting, pancaking, crawling, shows belly. Tolerates pets. Treat motivated. Outside of office fear is increased, generally needs high leash pressure to coax outside. Stays low to the ground and or hits the breaks and will flail. Constantly exit searching and looking to hide. Fear is intense enough that he will lay on the ground to urinate. He will then pull intensely to get away or to go right back inside.” Per staff 5/5: “I attempted to get Santiago out of his crate for a dog meet. He was originally at the front of his crate but when I went to leash him he went to the back. There were a few dogs barking and he was trembling. I was able to leash him but he didn’t want to move. I tried sitting next to the back of his kennel to see if he would move towards the door which worked, but I couldn’t get to the front and get the leash before he backed up again. I then sat near the back of his crate again and was able to touch him through the crate. He stopped trembling once the room was quiet. A staff member and volunteer pulled the tray of the crate out, bringing him with it. Once closer to the front, they pushed a leash under him and made a belly loop. They were able to get him to stand and reluctantly move to the office. Once off leash, he walked around, so it seems that his lack of walking is behavioral rather than medical, maybe a combination of fear and not liking leash pressure? He did a few laps and went under the desks, then came up behind me as I sat on the floor. I didn’t attempt handling because of how fearful he seemed.” Per volunteer 5/5: “He's been in the behavior office all afternoon. He is avoidant of the people, walks around the room mainly seeking an exit. Avoidant of having a collar put on, but was tolerant. Fearful body language hunched body, averting gaze, head down, tail tucked. Got him to walk into the hallway, then he refused to walk after pooping. He then slept the rest of the day in the office. Gives low tail wags with some people sometimes, this is likely a fearful/submissive response and not an indication he's happy to being affiliative. He offered his belly with no tucked tail so I pet him a little and he seemed to enjoy it but again, it was likely a submissive gesture and not a gesture asking for contact.” Per staff 5/5: “Went into the eval room and Santiago was standing, panting a bit at the crate door. I got him some fresh pet and went up to the door and he turned and faced the back of his crate. I walked away and then came back and got video of him sniffing and then burying the fresh pet. It appears he has buried a variety of treats in his blanket. He was unfazed by the dog in the crate next to him barking, but was fearful of me touching him, as he would back up out of reach but had soft eyes the whole time.” Per staff 5/4: “Went to Santiago's kennel and he was in the back of the crate. But he got up for the treats I brought him, though he didn't eat them - but they got a tail wag out of him!” Per staff 5/3: “Won't walk on leash, very shut down, scared, averts gaze, stays at the back of the crate.” Medical Notes: Per an exam on 5/8: “Code red was removed because dog was stable and walking. Recheck to determine pathway. Objective: Cursory exam focused on pertinent issues: Ambulatory x4 but reluctant to stand and walk, difficult to discern if paretic and/or ataxic or behavioral in origin. Difficult to discern pain on spinal palpation but panniculus response to palpation over TL region suspected to imply pain. Decreased CPs bilaterally in hind with dropped hocks at stance, crepitus on extension of left hip. BV sounds bilaterally and dorsally across chest, eupneic. Assessment: Patient's previous xray findings implicate a degree of myelopathy per ventral spondylosis deformans and altered spinal segment spacing, and dropped hocks and crepitus on hip extension likely also imply some degree of hip osteoarthritis: these findings, along with CPs in hind, also imply some degree of consequent neurologic deficits. Patient is eupneic and breathing comfortably with BV sounds dorsally and ventrally across the chest. The potential pneumothorax per available radiographs previously taken is now considered to be artifactual secondary to technique: it is also possible that a partial pneumothorax may have been caused secondary to trauma but is now resolved. The previously identified firm mass associated with the left hemimandible is still of unknown origin.” Per an exam on 5/3: “Patient presented for evaluation of mobility difficulties. Objective: -Quiet, responsive but dull mentation. -discoloration throughout dental arcade, firm swelling associated with left hemimandible approximately near the canine. -II/VI systolic murmur, no arrhythmia, pulses synchronous, dull lung sounds dorsally, eupneic but becomes dyspneic and cyanotic with handling and restraint. -BCS 8/9 with sarcopenic muscle wasting in hindlimbs. Ambulatory x4 but reluctant to stand, difficult to assess CPs and orthopedic disease given size and mentation. -Abrasions of the cranioventral abdomen. Adhered ticks noted along pinnae AU. -POC Lactate: 2.6 -POCUS Abdomen: No free fluid -POCUS thorax: Absent glide sign dorsally and bilaterally, B lines apparent -CBC: All values WNL -Chem: Globulins 4.6 (H), phosphorus low normal, potassium low normal, ALT high normal -XR: Somewhat non-diagnostic radiographs. DV shows an area bilaterally of the lung field where pulmonary vessels are not appreciable. Expiratory films but cardiomegaly suspected. Irregular spacing of the thoracic spinal segments, collapsed lumbar spinal spaces with ventral spondylosis deformans. Assessment: 1. Weakly ambulatory r/o multifocal IVDD 2. Possible pneumothorax per radiographs and POCUS thorax findings 3. Heart murmur, open for diagnosis 4. Dull mentation 5. Hyperglobulinemic 6. Mandibular swelling, open for diagnosis 7. Tick infestation Patient's clinical signs and diagnostics could implicate some of the following aforementioned assessments, but a single explanatory uniform diagnosis is not clear at this time.” ACCT Philly is located at 111 West Hunting Park Ave in Philadelphia. We are open for adoptions 7 days a week. Please visit www.acctphilly.org/adopt for details. If you are a rescue interested in pulling this animal, please email our lifesaving team, or visit here if you are not currently a rescue partner: https://acctphilly.org/acct-philly-love-local-partnership-program/ Confirmed placement is considered a confirmation of an actual rescue pull. Possible placement, interested parties, and other "TBD" statuses are not considered confirmed and do not indicate an animal is no longer urgent. All animals at ACCT Philly are from Philadelphia, as the only open-intake animal shelter in Philadelphia, we are not able to accept animals from outside of Philadelphia. ACCT Philly's Pennsylvania kennel license number is 08313.

If you have any questions or would like to adopt Santiago , please reach out to the adoption group directly. PetSmart Charities does not facilitate the adoption process. Thank you.