The Pedigree Foundation Grant

The Pedigree Brand believes that every dog deserves a loving home.  To ensure the brand was maximizing its efforts to help four-legged friends in need, they created The Pedigree Foundation.  The Pedigree Foundation is a philanthropic organization dedicated to providing grants to support other programs that help make life better for homeless dogs.  WestieMed is pleased to announce it received a grant from The Pedigree Foundation in November 2008.

WestieMed wishes to express its thanks and gratitude to The Pedigree Foundation for this support.  This grant enabled WestieMed to help McKayla and Cilla, two Westies who were in need of medical attention and new homes.  McKayla's expenses were fully funded by the grant.  The remainder of the grant partially paid for Cilla's care.

McKayla

When McKayla's widowed "mom" passed away, she was left with family members who either did not want her or could not take her. So at age 9, McKayla was surrendered to Oklahoma Westie Rescue.  When the rescue group picked up McKayla, they saw that she had a bad limp of her rear leg and was infested with fleas.  The limp was subsequently diagnosed as a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) of her right rear knee and needed surgical repair.  The surgery, however, had to be delayed as McKayla had developed a skin condition known as pyoderma from the flea infestation.  McKayla was placed in a foster home for a month until the pyoderma cleared up.  The rescue group applied to WestieMed for financial assistance for her surgery.  McKayla's ACL repair surgery took place and it was fully funded by WestieMed's Pedigree Foundation grant.  After a few weeks of recuperation, McKayla was returned to her foster family, who decided that this orphaned girl needed to become part of their family.  So today, McKayla is enjoying her second life with a new knee, a new family who loves and wants her and two active Westie siblings with whom she can run and play.  Thanks to WestieMed and the Pedigree Foundation, it is a great ending to what otherwise could have been a very sad story.  As a senior Westie, McKayla is a very lucky girl.  Read more about McKayla.

Cilla

Cilla is a middle-aged female Westie who is estimated to be approximately 6 to 7 years old.  An independent rescuer found an ad on internet selling site stating Cilla needed to be rehomed ASAP.  The rescuer replied to the ad and was instructed to rendezvous in a parking lot that evening.  When she did, she found a trembling, frightened and very thin Westie who was visibly neglected and in all likelihood had been abused.  From bits and pieces of the story that eventually came out, her rescuer learned that most of Cilla's years had been spent confined in a basement.  She came to her new life with nothing more than a sandwich bag of dry dog food and a leash tied around her neck. She hid under the bed for several days and ate very little.  A trip to the vet revealed that Cilla had severe dental disease with an infection that contributed to her being malnourished - it simply hurt too much to eat.  Despite everything she has been through, Cilla is a gentle and sweet Westie who seemed to know her rescuer was not going to hurt her.  The rescuer and her son soon became very attached to Cilla and decided to find a way to restore Cilla's health.  Someone told Cilla's rescuer about WestieMed and she applied for financial help to give Cilla the dental care she needed.  WestieMed funded Cilla's expenses, part of which were paid with the remainder of the Pedigree Foundation grant.  Within days, Cilla's dental problems were history and Cilla was gaining weight as well as getting stronger and healthier.  She was adopted by her loving and caring rescuer who writes, "I am elated with your fast response, your organization truly saved this dog...I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this possible for Cilla and giving her a very hopeful, healthy and happy life ahead."  Read more about Cilla.