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Dallas Fort Worth Pug Rescue
The group is the largest pug rescue organization in the nation and has placed more than 4,800 pugs since it was founded 12 years ago.
The volunteer-based organization rescues about 10 pugs a week and takes in all pugs, regardless of age or medical condition. The dogs are rescued from shelters and pounds or surrendered by owners.
Veterinary care is the nonprofit organization's biggest expense, averaging $150,000 a year -- and that is after the deep discounts provided by the vet clinics. All funds donated to DFW Pug Rescue go strictly to veterinary care.
The organization's motto is "No Pug Left Behind." The pugs go to foster families until they can be adopted into permanent homes.
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FORT WORTH -- Debra Drzich knew it was a shot in the dark.
The worst that could happen, she figured, is Dr. Yadro Ducic would turn her down."He is probably going to think I'm nuts, but most everybody thinks I'm nuts anyway, so that is OK," Drzich reasoned.Drzich, a certified surgical technologist on the heart team at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, approached the plastic surgeon in the hospital hallway and asked to speak with him privately.Would he be willing to reconstruct the shattered jaw of an abused dog, a pug named Boca, and would he consider doing the surgery for free?The doctor didn't laugh, a good sign."He said he had never worked on a dog but that he would be willing to give it a try," Drzich recalled. "He was up for the challenge."That impromptu hallway conversation sparked a series of events that, two months later, brought a group of strangers together for an unprecedented surgery and a remarkable act of kindness."I don't think it matters whether it is a dog or a human or a cat," Ducic said. "You are going to feel empathetic because her jaw was so devastatingly broken in so many pieces. She couldn't close her mouth and she was drooling and she couldn't eat properly, couldn't bark, couldn't do much of anything. ... It's one of those things -- you don't do it for any reason other than you feel like you are supposed to."Overcoming adversityIt was August, and the little pug was in bad shape.A good Samaritan had found her and called the hot line for Dallas Fort Worth Pug Rescue, a nonprofit organization that takes in abused, neglected and abandoned pugs. A volunteer went to get the pug and, upon seeing her, named her Boca, which means mouth in Spanish.The volunteer drove Boca to the Westcreek Animal Clinic, where veterinarian Larry Gumfory treats the organization's rescued animals for about half the normal fee."She was with us for probably two months," Gumfory said. "She came in with her jaw hanging down, and she had been that way for a long time. There is no way of knowing for sure, but she probably got kicked in the mouth."Despite her hardship, the staff at the clinic was struck by Boca's sweetness -- and her ability to overcome adversity.Because she could not chew, she swallowed food whole, literally sucking it down."She was a champ at it," Gumfory said, chuckling. "There isn't a staff member here that doesn't just love her to death because she is such a sweet dog."On two occasions, Gumfory operated on Boca's jaw, putting in pins in an attempt to close it. Both times, Boca broke the pins loose."It was pretty disheartening," Gumfory said. "I have done several broken mandibles in the past, and they have always healed. Probably part of the problem was that it was fractured on both sides of the mandible and not just one. It was real frustrating."Eventually, Boca went to live with a foster mom, a volunteer with the pug rescue organization who would care for her until she could be adopted.
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