WPA Humane Society

Past Featured Angels

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie arrived at the Western PA Humane Society as a stray in rough shape in the Manchester Neighborhood on August 8th. After a medical examination, it was determined that he had a severe case of mange that covered his entire body. He also had severe bacterial and yeast skin infections which was the cause of his extreme hair loss. In addition to his poor skin condition, he had a proptosed third eyelid which is commonly known as Cherry Eye. The amazing thing about Pumpkin Pie is that even after enduring all of these medical hardships, his little Mastiff tail has never stopped wagging!

Dega

Dega is an adorable Australian shepherd mix who arrived at the Western PA Humane Society in fair condition except for a visible limp. While waiting for a diagnosis on her leg injury, Dega’s road to adoption was hampered by a urinary tract infection and then contracting kennel cough. Poor Dega was sick for several weeks, but she always had enough energy to give her tail a wag when she recognized a friend! After finally being medically cleared, Dega underwent surgery to correct a cruciate tear in her left hind leg. This type of surgery is expensive and has a long recovery period! Thanks to her wonderful foster family, she remained in their home while she searched for her forever home, travelling back and forth on the weekends. Finally, the perfect adopters fell in love with her and she was adopted. Way to go, Dega!

Sophia

Sophia first arrived at the shelter in January 2012. Not only was she in poor condition herself, but she was also nursing 3 tiny kittens. Both Sophia and her kittens went to a foster home until they were healthy enough to be available for adoption. That is not where Sophia’s store ended, however. While her kittens were in good shape, Sophia had had a rough time. You might have noticed that her ears are deformed, which is suspected to be from old hematomas that were never attended to. And the poor girl only has 2 teeth remaining, one of which is broken but not painful and the other has mild gingival recession. It is no wonder that she loves her canned pureed cat food! Several weeks after being available for adoption, Sophia found her perfect adopters and went home!

Brighton (Cowley)

Brighton is a sweet little pup who stole the hearts of the staff at the Western PA Humane Society. She came to the shelter at just 3 months old, so under normal circumstances she would have been considered highly adoptable. But, Brighton’s journey would not be that easy. She arrived at the shelter with a broken leg; a break so severe that it needed surgery to properly heal. Now that she has had her surgery, she is comfortably recovering in a foster home. Now that Brighton has been medically cleared, she has been made available for adoption.

Lulu

Meet our newest Adoption Angel Fund recipient, Lulu the Shih Tzu mix puppy. She was surrendered to us from people who purchased her in Ohio. She started acting ill in February, and they waited a month before realizing that they were unable to afford her much needed tests and medical care. Upon her arrival at the shelter on March 30th, our staff noticed that she was not behaving like a normal puppy. After a series of blood work, our medical team suggested that we take her to a specialist for more diagnostics, suspecting a possible liver shunt.

The specialist agreed with our medical staff, and Lulu was scheduled to have surgery to fix her portosystemic shunt and bladder stones. She had to stay at the veterinary hospital for several days on seizure watch. After she was released, she went directly into a loving foster home, where her health has slowly been improving. As a side effect of the surgery she developed a common condition called ascites, making her belly swell with fluids. After taking the time needed to heal, Lulu went home to a very lucky adopter. She now has other pup siblings and has been busy claiming her favorite places to curl up and be her cute little self.

Emma

Emma came to WPHS after being hit by a car. This sweet girl had extensive injuries to her rear leg and had to be taken to a specialty surgeon to have it repaired. After a 2+ hour long surgery, she had a plate and 12 screws to mend her severe break. Emma also tested positive for heartworm, so the road ahead of her is a long one. She is now recovering in a foster home where she can take the time to heal from not only her break, but her heartworm as well.

Pepper

Our newest featured Adoption Angel is Pepper, the adorable 2 year old yellow lab. Pepper was brought to the Western PA Humane Society in April. He was ready to be made available for adoption when the staff noticed that he was favoring his rear leg. Radiographs showed that he had osteophytes in his rear right stifle joint. These can be caused by chronic inflammation. In Pepper’s case, this was caused by either degenerative joint disease (DJD) or a cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) rupture. As soon as it could be scheduled, Pepper had surgery on the joint in question so that he could regain full use and prevent further injury. He has since been recovering in a loving foster home. Every day seems to bring more comfort and mobility, and his shining personality it really coming through!

Panama

Panama found his way to the Western PA Humane Society thanks to his own “engine-uity.” A kind driver stopped on the West End Bridge after spotting him injured on the side of the road. Before the driver could grab him, he hopped right into her car’s engine. Seeing that he was in a “safe” area, the driver quickly drive over the our North Shore shelter where she and one of our employees coaxed the poor injured Panama out of the engine and into our medical team’s hands. Our veterinarians determined that Panama was suffering from a fractured jaw and a few cuts and scrapes around his face. He was taken to PVSEC, where they wired his jaw so that is could properly mend. His foster mother diligently administered numerous pain medications until he was healed and finally adopted.