Annie's Incredible Story of Survival
WARNING – Graphic Content Below
On April 27th, we were alerted by rescue partners in Oklahoma that a dog we have subsequently named #MamaAnnie was found laying in a driveway, PREGNANT, IN DISTRESS, and BARELY RESPONSIVE – We now know that due to the extremely poor condition her body was in, Annie was in the middle of a late term miscarriage with one premature baby hanging halfway out of her body. Her emaciated, bacteria and infection ridden body simply could not carry the pregnancy any longer. She was vomiting maggots! She had multiple open wounds from being attacked at least a week prior by 5 resident dogs. Those wounds were infested with maggots and were oozing pus. We were told that the “owner” came outside and SPIT on Annie when help arrived to try to save her life. She looked at this dying little dog and said, “She ain’t worth it,” before she allowed our partner rescue group – “WOOF PET RESCUE” of Woodward, OK to take Annie away for emergency care. Annie was rushed to Woodward Animal Hospital in Oklahoma where Dr. Didier found her to be “near comatose,” extremely dehydrated and malnourished, so much so that it affected her kidneys, she was too dehydrated to deliver her puppies and she could not physically produce milk because of the extreme dehydration. She was severely anemic and her liver values were abnormally high. She was given a jugular IV, (because she was too dehydrated to go in through a vein) and oxytocin was administered, after which she delivered two stillborn babies, basically through a dry birth canal. After 2.5 hours with no progress, we made the difficult decision to perform a C-section/spay knowing it was likely that mom would not survive. But we all knew that if we didn’t do the C-section, she was going to die anyway. It was a horrible decision for our Director and our Dr. to have to make. Annie had 10 babies. Of those 10, 4 were born alive. 2 perished within hours, the other 2 surviving premature puppies perished within a week. Annie survived the surgery and miraculously made some progress, though she had a long road of healing in front of her. (We had NO IDEA how rough that road would be though!) Continued below…
The photos above were sent to us by WOOF Rescue President, Debbie Kinney, and Dr. Didier at Woodward Animal Hospital. This was after Annie’s emergency C-section and after he had meticulously removed all of the putrid pus and maggots from her wounds. Further treatment of these wounds was not possible at this time because of how incredibly sick Annie was. Dr. Didier said he had never seen anything like Annie’s case… A sentiment reiterated by EVERY. SINGLE. DOCTOR. AND. HOSPITAL. SHE. HAS. BEEN. TO. SINCE.
Annie’s story doesn’t end there… After 4 days of ICU care in Oklahoma, Annie was stable enough to transfer to us here in Colorado. She was put on an emergency transport with volunteer, Jim McQueen, who traveled through the night in a race to get Annie to us. She arrived to us at 4am on May 1st. Despite the extreme pain and horrific physical condition she was in, she greeted me with a wagging tail, and soft warm kisses. She knew she was finally safe. Annie went directly to our Veterinarians at Happy Tails Veterinary Center for a complete evaluation and bloodwork. She was far too unhealthy for the wound debridement surgery she desperately needed when she arrived, so we had to put her on medications to help her liver, anemia, and infection so that she would stand a chance at surviving another surgery. It was a race against time as the wounds were deep and severely infected. She had so many holes all over her body that the pus would literally drip out of her like a faucet constantly! This constant dripping lead to severe dehydration and Annie required round the clock SubQ hydration. Her skin was beginning to break down, and if she didn’t have this surgery urgently her skin would begin to slough off of her body. **Read that again** HER SKIN WAS SO BROKEN DOWN FROM PUS AND MAGGOTS THAT IT WAS GOING TO START FALLING OFF OF HER BODY! After 3 days with us, Annie was healthy enough for debridement surgery. This surgery was performed on Monday, May 4th. She did well. Multiple drains were placed to help flush out the infection. But then… EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. after surgery, Annie had to go back to the vet because her skin was not strong enough for the sutures to hold it together. Her skin was tearing like tissue paper and all of her wounds needed to be reinforced with heavier grade sutures and staples. Not only that, but new pockets of infection were forming and subsequently bursting through her skin, requiring additional procedures to clean, suture and staple them. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!!! She was also getting blood work every 2 days to monitor her liver values and blood counts. She was quite anemic upon arrival, but curiously her white blood cell counts were skyrocketing and the vets couldn’t figure out WHY!? Was there an infection we didn’t know about? If so, where was it?! Through all of this, her incredible spirit, will to live, and capacity to LOVE kept showing through with every person she met. Even though the procedures were HURTING HER – She would still reach back and kiss her techs and her doctors… It’s as if she knew everyone was trying to help her. Continued below…
The above photos show the condition Annie was in when she arrived to Colorado on May 1st. The skin breakdown from the pus and what the maggots had done to her was rapidly escalating. The debridement surgery was EMERGENT. One of the wounds on her left rear leg went straight through the muscle and out through the other side of her leg, and a wound on her right front leg was so deep that you could see the tendon moving inside the leg
Annie was doing well from the 4th through the 8th… for the most part, aside from new infection pockets presenting and subsequently bursting, and the constantly rising white blood cell counts, continuing anemia, and elevated liver values. But on Friday, the 8th Annie began having vaginal bleeding. She was rushed back in to Happy Tails Veterinary Hospital, where we were told the bleeding wasn’t severe enough to be worrisome, YET, but if it got worse she would need to be seen urgently. We scheduled an Ultrasound for the 12th to see if we could find out what was going on. There is really NO logical reason that a spayed dog should have vaginal bleeding. By Saturday morning, Annie’s kennel area looked like a murder scene, there was so much blood everywhere. She was passing blood clots nearly the size of the palm of my hand! (Keep in mind that Annie was a very small 23lbs) She was refusing food, her gums were pale white, (indicating severe anemia) she was cold, had NO blood pressure, and she was extremely lethargic. We rushed Annie over to VRCC in Englewood for an emergency ultrasound. When we arrived, Annie was in shock and required IV (jugular) stabilization. We had a little problem. Annie NEEDED the ultrasound, but she was too critical to have the procedure, (more anesthesia.) The only way to stabilize her was for her to have a blood transfusion, but VRCC was out of blood. Our doctors at Happy Tails had the blood, but they didn’t have the radiologist to do the Ultrasound. Our director sat in that parking lot, nautious and near vomiting for FIVE HOURS, waiting for VRCC to stabilize Annie enough (raise temperature and normalize her blood pressure) to have the ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that she had a LOT of air in her abdomen, her uterine stump was inflamed, and she had free fluid in her abdominal cavity, (that’s not supposed to be there) and they could not rule out a perforation. As soon as the ultrasound was finished, we loaded Annie into the car and RACED her to Happy Tails to begin her blood transfusion. Annie would require emergency exploratory surgery to try to find the source of the vaginal bleeding, but she had to have blood first. She was CRITICAL! Annie stabilized after her first partial transfusion enough that the docs felt comfortable, (not really) opening her up. During surgery they did not find a perforation, they did remove the fluid, (which was identified as Septic Peritonitis) and they found that she had adhesions on her uterine stump that had attached the stump between her bladder and her colon. Those adhesions were removed. They could NOT find a reason for the massive blood loss. And on top of all that, another infection pocket had developed and burst in her right rear hock which required additional staples. Annie spent the night at the hospital finishing her blood transfusion, getting round the clock care, and various blood tests. We picked her up on Sunday morning and brought her home with an IV catheter in place, IV antibiotics, and constant hydration to battle the dehydration and raging infection inside of her little 23lb body. By Sunday evening she hadn’t had any bleeding for 36 hours, and her gums were beginning to turn pink again! Continued below…
The photos above depict the bleeding and how quickly Annie went from feeling – OKAY – to being on Death’s door for the 2nd time in under two weeks. You can also see her pale gums and a wound where sutures opened up due to frail/weak skin.
We talk about it in Annie’s Facebook group often, (https://www.facebook.com/groups/justiceformamaannie/) – Her sheer will to survive. She should not have lived through all that she had, but her soul just wasn’t ready to give up. She is the strongest little dog I’ve ever met. Her soul is on fire, and her story just is NOT ready to be finished! I’ve said it a million times… “If they’re fighting, I’M FIGHTING!” As Annie’s medical bills started to rack up into the BIG Numbers, (Over $7,000) between April 27th and May 9th we were getting SCARED. We are a small little rescue, and we didn’t know what we were going to do, we just knew that this little girl absolutely COULD NOT die without ever knowing what it was like to be loved. So we started ramping up our fundraising efforts and really trying to get her story out there for people to see! We didn’t have a lot of time for all that tho – because by Sunday night, May 10th, Annie’s bleeding was back with a vengeance! We raced her over to Parker Animal Emergency and Specialty Center because we knew they had a vaginoscope, and we needed to get a look inside of her to see what on earth could be causing all of this blood loss! Annie was stabilized again at AESC, and we were again sent home to watch her because they did not have the equipment necessary to cauterize or repair a vaginal laceration if one was found. We made an appointment with a reproductive specialist at Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital for 8 am the next morning for a vaginoscopy. When we arrived at the hospital, Annie was severely febrile with a fever of 104.9, and her PCVs (red blood cells) had plummeted to 17%. Our precious little Annie was yet again on death’s doorstep. The reproductive specialist could not treat Annie or do the vaginoscopy because she was so critical. Annie was transferred immediately to the Critical Care unit in the hospital and efforts began to save her life… again. Annie had yet another ultrasound, 3 or 4 more blood transfusions, multiple tests and other procedures as doctors raced to try to find out where this massive bleeding was coming from. Every procedure she had was another bout of anesthesia… another doctor explaining that she may not wake up this time. She is a fighter, but she has fought so long and so hard that she was growing weak. These discussions always ended with the doctors asking if I want her revived should she crash. The decision making for this girl was so stressful at times, that on at least one occasion, I had to give decision making authority to her regular Dr., Dr. Megan Bos at Happy Tails, because I just COULD. NOT. DO. IT. ANYMORE. After Annie’s first blood transfusion at WRAH, she stabilized a bit, and started looking very slightly better. That said, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong in the middle of the night, so I called to check on her. I was right, it was bad. Annie was crashing again. Her temperature had gone from 104.9 12 hours earlier, to now an unbelievable 96.9, and her PCV’s were back to 17%. They were doing a rapid infusion of blood and trying to keep her alive. I was on stand-by to go to the hospital, (45 minutes away) so that our precious, mangled little girl would not have to die alone. I was frantic at home and reached out to #Annie’sArmy. A prayer chain was started IMMEDIATELY and those social media strangers who have grown to love Annie as much as any of us, spent their night praying for our girl, crying with me, keeping me company, and being a huge source of comfort. After 3 hours, I got the call that Annie was tolerating the additional blood infusions, and her temperature was coming up. We HAD TO FIND THE SOURCE OF THE BLEEDING! NOW!
Tuesday, the 12th was full of more tests, more blood infusions and more worry because we still had no answers.
Wednesday, the 13th, we finally got the vaginoscopy (another procedure under anesthesia). What they found blew EVERYONE’S MIND! They found that Annie had a varicocele (basically a varicose vein or hemorrhoid) 6cm up inside of her vagina that was bleeding out. This is almost unheard of. Doctors DO NOT SEE THIS. It is exceedingly rare and when it does happen, it happens mostly in horses! As such… no one knows how to treat it in a dog! They can’t do an episiotomy to go in vaginally to repair it. They can’t go in abdominally to repair it… The only way to really reach this thing is to crack her pelvis in half (uhmm no!) They did administer gel foam and an epinephrine soaked tampon to her to stop the active bleeding and it worked. But it’s a temporary band-aid on an otherwise ticking time bomb.
So today is Thursday, the 14th, and this is where we are. Annie has this extremely rare THING inside of her that no one knows how to treat because no one has seen it before. Multiple hospitals, teaching hospitals, surgical teams and various surgeons from all over are consulting on her case right now to try to decide how to best protect Annie from bleeding out again. As of this moment, Annie is getting tampons soaked in PreparationH (hemorrhoid cream) every 8 hours because PreparationH works on human hemorrhoids.. why not a dog? Right? I hope? At least these band-aids are buying us some time to figure out how in the world we are going to tackle this! Annie’s PCV’s have come back up to 45%, she is eating, drinking, wagging her happy tail again, and she spends her time kissing all of her doctors and nurses. Let’s all just hope the band-aid holds!
5/15/20 – Annie was discharged from Wheatridge Animal Hospital. Her precious little self is stable enough to come home – though we are constantly watching and waiting for her varicocele to hemorrhage again. We have emergency supplies on hand to staunch the bleeding if that happens, and Dr. Bos has made herself available 24/7 in the case of emergency with Annie. I picked her up from the hospital and she was ALL LOVE. ALL WAGS, ALL SMILES! That’s our girl! She’s in ridiculous pain – but just wants to give love anyway! We left WRAH and went straight to Happy Tails clinic so she could see her other care team, and do to an interview with Greg Nieto with Fox31 news. That interview can be seen here – https://kdvr.com/news/problem-solvers/abused-dog-in-need-of-help
After the interview, and giving loves and kisses to everyone, Annie was exhausted. She came home at about 5:30pm, didn’t eat, got her meds and slept until about 9:30 the next morning. Her body is tired. Her body needs rest. Doctors are still diligently trying to find an answer to her vaginal varicocele… It’s nerve wracking knowing that she could start to bleed out again at any moment.
Photos above are the vaginscopy images of the rare varicocele
Annie resting peacefully at home after an excruciating 5 days away from us.
On 5/19/20 – Maranda Dawne Weber, (Bohn) was arrested on FELONY Cruelty to Animals Charges!
5/22/20 Culture results from a swollen/painful left rear hock that Annie has been battling for weeks show that she has a rare and emerging antibiotic resistant E-Coli bacterial infection. This likely came from the bacteria either in the mouth of the dog that bit her, or her own skin bacteria that has become resistant. Annie has been put on special medication, and will undergo surgery early in the morning on 5/23/20 to flush the wound and the joint. This poor baby can’t seem to catch a break!
9/14/20 UPDATE – It’s been a while since we updated Annie’s story. Long story short – there was a lot more going on with Annie’s left rear hock than we originally knew. Not only did she have a rare E-coli infection, she also had injuries and damage to the ligaments from the dog attack. After months of trying to save the leg, it was decided that it would be in Annie’s best interest to remove the leg altogether. On July 28th we drove Annie back to where her horrific story began. We went to Woodward, OK for the defendant’s court hearing, and then took Annie to Woodward Animal hospital – back to Dr. Didier who originally saved her life that fateful day she was found on the driveway. Dr. Didier performed the surgery to amputate her leg, putting the final piece of her rescue/life saving puzzle into place. As of this date, the rescue has spent over $16,500 to save this girl’s life. And you know what? That monster of an owner was wrong… Annie IS WORTH IT! Since the amputation, Annie has FINALLY been free to run and play like she wants to! She is no longer in pain. She is no longer suffering. She didn’t miss a beat, really. She was up and RUNNING within 12 hours!
Annie’s story is one of immense suffering, heartbreak, struggle, fear, and anger (on my part). But her story is also one of immense love, strength, forgiveness, determination, perseverance, and community support. All of this wrapped up into one little dog with a will to live like nothing we have ever seen!
1/23/21 UPDATE
We were summoned to Woodward, OK for the preliminary hearing in the criminal cruelty case where evidence was presented showing that we have more than enough to take this case further. With great thank-you to the Woodward County District Attorney’s office, the defendant was remanded back to jail to await arraignment on January 28th, 2021. We hope and pray that this case goes to jury trial! We’re fighting for you Annie!!!
A small number of #AnniesArmie waiting outside the courtroom for the hearing.
After all that she has been through, the MONTHS of pain, failures and ultimate successes – her rescuer could not let her go as was originally planned. Annie was adopted by the Executive Director of P.R.A.R. and has now become the Doggy Ambassador to Pawsitive Restorations Animal Rescue – where we are hopeful that her incredible story will help to educate the public and promote change where animal abuse and neglect are concerned. We could not have saved this precious life without the support and encouragement we received from our village of animal lovers. Annie and I thank you – for finally showing this little girl that she is in fact, WORTH IT!
On the morning this precious gift from God arrived, I promised her that she would NEVER know that kind of pain again. I keep my promises. Krissy Mosbarger
MEDIA
Media May Contact The rescue directly for use of Annie’s story. Many media outlets are including incorrect information in their releases. We WANT Annie’s story to be told, but we want the CORRECT story told. The content on this page is the only authorized/accurate account of Annie’s struggles.
MEDIA LINKS REGARDING ANNIE’S CASE –
Note*** There have been SO MANY news stories about Annie that we could not keep up with posting them individually. Annie’s story has been shared all over the world, and IN. EVERY. SINGLE. STATE. in the continental U.S. Google her – or her abuser and the list of stories will flood your browser! KEEP SHARING HER STORY. This is how we will effect change for these abused/neglected animals!
A BITTER END TO OUR BATTLE
On March 11, 2021 Annie and I arrived at the Woodward County courthouse in Woodward, OK for the Felony Animal Cruelty trial of her abuser – Maranda Dawn Weber, (Bohn). Prior to this date, I personally had both mailed and hand delivered a manilla envelope full of the evidence we had gathered in this case. On January 14th, 2021 I hand delivered a packet (about an inch thick) to ADA Susan Meinders. In that packet was everything the state needed to convict this monster for her horrendous treatment of this precious dog. I sat in on the preliminary hearing on that day and knew exactly what their “play” was going to be. I verbalized that to Ms. Meinders after the hearing. I told her – “They’re going to say that Annie was a stray dog that wandered onto her property, and you have everything you need to disprove that in the packet I just gave you. Then we left.
Not long after this date, we learned that for some unknown reason, both the judge and the ADA trying the case had been changed. I very WRONGFULLY assumed that the case had been passed off to a competent attorney who would fight for Annie. On March 8th, THREE DAYS before the trial, I finally heard from ADA, Megan Hickman. Not ONCE in the previous 11 MONTHS has anyone from the prosecution bothered to contact me directly to discuss Annie’s case. No… they called THREE DAYS BEFORE TRIAL. We discussed the case, and she admittedly knew VERY little about the details of Annie’s case. That’s a GREAT thing to hear when we are THREE DAYS from trial. I spent a substantial amount of time on the phone with her laying out, (in detail) what Annie had been through, what evidence we had, and again, letting her know that the defense was going to say that Annie was a stray. When I told her what evidence was in the packet to dispute their argument, she then asked me to email her copies of everything I had because she either never got it, or coudn’t find it. My confidence was waining. But Megan assured me that her boss, the District Attorney, Christopher Boring told her that this was a “Slam dunk felony conviction.” I felt a little better, but still not real fuzzy that our gladiator seemed to know almost nothing of what Annie went through, or the vast witness list available to her.
Fast forward to the trial… and lo and behold the defense played their hand exactly the way I warned they would. They claimed that Annie was a FERAL stray dog, who the abuser took pity upon and fed sometimes. She swore under oath that she had never laid a hand on Annie, because Annie was, “too feral to touch.” Yeah, the same Annie who days later greeted me with a wagging tail and warm, soft kisses. The same Annie that has slept pressed up so close to me since day one that sometimes I feel like we are surgically attached at the hip! “FERAL!” Folks… I cannot bring forth the words to accurately describe the RAGE that flowed through my body as Annie’s completely incompetent legal team (Hickman & Ritter, with the DA, Chris Boring sitting right behind them) completely threw this case down the toilet. The gal trying the case appeared to have never tried a case in court before. Was the DA letting her practice on Annie’s case? I can’t say for sure, but for every person sitting in that courtroom, it sure did look that way. Of the piles of evidence I gave the prosecution on THREE separate occasions, (snail mail, email, and hand delivered) only 4 pieces of evidence were admitted into court. That comprised of 3 pictures of Annie and a copy of the SIGNED owner surrender form that the wretched abuser signed (ON CAMERA). The defense claimed that she was “forced” to sign the owner surrender form. She was not forced, she signed of her own free will, but of course she didn’t have to PROVE anything. All she had to do was sit in that chair and lie under oath.
Now here is where I’m going to try to contain myself with regard to the evidence WE HAD, that was practically gift wrapped for the incompetent prosecution, but they never bothered to do THEIR JOBS to fight for this precious animal.
I told not one, but TWO ADAs that they were going to say Annie was a stray. They BOTH heard the testimony from the prelimary hearing and if they had a brain cell between them, could figure out the game the defense was going to play. I made sure BOTH were aware of an email (they were given copies) from a woman named Breanna, who is Annie’s previous owner. Breanna gave Annie and Jojo to the abuser. Breanna then followed up with the abuser on multiple occasions to see how the girls were doing, and was told that they were very Happy. The abuser even sent photos to Breanna showing Annie and Jojo laying on the abuser’s bed. The ADAs in this case were given that email AND Breanna’s phone number and contact information. Was Breanna called to tesitfy? NOPE! She sure the hell wasn’t! Was the email admitted for evidence? NOPE, it sure the hell wasn’t! Ultimately, the case was lost because Annie’s defense didn’t give TWO SHITS about fighting for this dog. The DA let an inexperienced attorney take over on this case, one can only assume, to “practice” on a case he deemed to be a “slam dunk.” And ya know what REALLY trips my trigger folks? The case WAS A SLAM DUNK! It 1000% was! If they would have done their dad-gum jobs instead of cramming for a final 3 days before the test!
To add insult to injury, there was a witness subpoenaed to testify on state’s behalf. Her name is Brandy. She was the abuser’s former best friend and roommate. The abuser dumped 4 additional dogs and several cats onto Brandy and took off, leaving the animals in Brandy’s care and never came back for those animals. Guess where those animals ended up by the way? Yeah – rescue. ANYWHOODLE – Brandy was sitting IN. THE. HALLWAY. during the trial. She was never called in to testify. SHE COULD HAVE TESTIFIED THAT MARANDA OWNED ANNIE! She was her best friend for crying out loud! But did the ADA have ANY kind of foresight or wherewithal to call in the one witness they had in their pocket who could say definitively that yes, Annie belonged to this shithead? Again, that’s a big fat NOPE!
Tell me please, how are we to ever get justice for the horrendous abuse that is happening to these animals day in and day out, when prosecutors couldn’t even nail this, “SLAM DUNK” case? Annie’s case went viral, her beautiful face has traveled the world. Her story has been told in every single state in this country, and several other countries as well. More than 200,000 people from around the world cried out for JUSTICE for this little dog. If Annie can’t get justice… who could? The justice system in this country is broken, my friends. People wonder why animal rescuers are constantly suffering from compassion fatigue, and other such disorders? You know why? It’s because of cases like this. No matter how hard we try, no matter what we do – the ABUSER is going to get off scott free. You know what’s really awful? That monster got of jail, and immediately went and got a puppy. THIS IS WHAT WE WERE FIGHTING AGAINST! This woman has a VERY long and documented history of neglected animals, other animals being surrendered to rescue in horrific condition, dead animals on her property numerous times, animals starving and eating the corpses of their siblings… But guess what? The prosecution in this case simply didn’t give a shit. Anne will not get justice for the horrors she suffered. No, the State of Oklahoma made damn sure of that. But in the end… Annie wins. Annie will never know abuse, or pain, or fear ever again in her life. She is home, she is warm, she is fed and she is loved so purely and immensely that she has surely forgotten that which she was forced to suffer through.
I WON’T forget though… Rescuers WON’T forget what happened here. We are watching. We are waiting.
I present to you a post on our rescue Facebook page on 1/13/21, one day before the preliminary hearing in which I compiled, (in triplicate) all of the evidence we had for Annie’s case. This was hand delivered to ADA Susan Meinders on 1/14/21. That email from Annie’s previous owner, PROVING she was in fact, NOT a “feral stray,” rather a loving, sweet, sentient creature who depended on her “owner” to care for her. This key piece of evidence, along with the witness’ contact info was the SECOND page in the pile! rather a loving, sweet, sentient creature who depended on her “owner” to care for her. This key piece of evidence, along with the witness’ contact info was the SECOND page in the pile! Incompetence, folks. Utter, shameful incompetence lost this case for this precious dog. I hope they sleep well at night knowing this monster already has at least one other dog in her care.
Pawsitive Restorations takes on a lot of really difficult, often very expensive medical cases. Saving these precious lives costs an exhorbitant amount of money and as a result, we are struggling to keep up with the demand. Please consider a tax deductible donation today, so that we can save more dogs like Annie tomorrow! ♥
