Hope of Deliverance, Inc.

"Hope of deliverance from the darkness that surrounds us..." -Paul McCartney ​ Hope of Deliverance is dedicated to being the voice for the voiceless. Our mission is to partner with rural animal shelters throughout southern Arizona, specifically those with low or no veterinary care available at the shelter, to save as many dogs as possible. We aim to do so by tightening the rescue community.

All of our foster's are in foster homes until adoption; receiving top-notch medical care and training, if necessary.

The Story of Lily:

Lily was emaciated when she was pulled from a rural Arizona shelter by Hope of Deliverance. Our volunteers noticed a raging infection in her mouth. Lily was given antibiotics to reduce the infection, allowing us to see further damage. Bone was exposed on the roof of her mouth, and she would need to see a specialist. At VCA Animal Hospital in Tucson, the vet discovered an oral fistula (opening) from her sinus cavity into the roof of her mouth. She got more antibiotics and a consultation with oral specialist Dr. Rocco, to assess bone grafting options.

Dr. Rocco informed us that Lily's mouth was much worse than we could have imagined. Her bone had been eaten away through the roof of her mouth. Dr. Rocco assembled a team from Pennsylvania and Australia to discuss the best course of action to attempt to fix her mouth. He said at best, it had a 50/50 shot of working, but we wanted to do absolutely everything we could for Lily. She had her entire life ahead of her, and deserved a chance at a happy, healthy life. We gave the "go-ahead," even before having funds. Within 6 hours, our incredible donors and volunteers raised $3,800 for Lily's surgery! As Dr. Rocco began, Lily's bone deteriorated in his hands. Luckily, he noticed some healthy bone that he was able to graft onto. He said the surgery went beautifully, and he was so thankful we decided to go through with it. That was Lily's only chance of surviving.

Over the next week and a half, Lily had stitches replaced in this high use area of her mouth. She went in for continual re-checks, and the last one was devastating. Lily spiked a fever, lost weight and her mouth was not healing. Lily was suffering. The roof of her mouth was not closing, and her body was fighting infection. We would have done anything we could for her. However, the damage was irreversible, and letting Lily be pain-free was the absolute best thing we could do for her. We were gutted, as we know all of her followers and supporters were. However, Lily wouldn't want you to feel anything but happiness, because through it all, that is what she had known - she had the most incredible spirit no matter what life dealt her. She would want you to think of her playfulness, kindness, light-heartedness, and smile.
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The Story of Herbie:
Herbie's story is one we have to tell for you to believe it. One word - serendipity.

We had gone on an intake freeze last month in order to catch up on medical and training needs for our current dogs in our care. One of these dogs, Argos, was set to go in for his neuter. As he is waiting with our volunteer, Miranda, she noticed a little dog in the arms of the lady across from her. As she complimented how adorable he was and asked what his name was, she discovered he didn't have a name and was getting some medical needs met because he was found as a stray and she was hoping to get him a forever home. She had no social media and was so thankful she ran into a rescue, because all rescues weren't responding.

Miranda rang our Director, and she then chatted with the finder soon after. Herbie, as we would come to name him, was found as a stray in a Dallas park, which is common in the area. He ran up to her - a bag of bones - with a mouth so full of infection, he couldn't eat. She caught him, and raced him home, attempting to clean out his mouth and then took him to our vet, which happens to be the only non-emergency on a Saturday. They gave him antibiotics and was set to see him back for neuter.

The day Miranda met him in the office was the day he came in for neuter. We made a plan to have the finder keep Herbie for two days and then off he would go to Tucson for one of our medical fosters.

This is where the story takes an insane turn.

Miranda is on her way to get Argos for neuter when she gets a call from the finder that she is on her way to the emergency room with her toddler son who is having a seizure and wanted to know if we could pick Herbie up. Of course. No questions asked.

We worked Herbie out for boarding for two days until his trip. When he was picked up, he had no teeth! Herbie had to have a complete extraction because of how infected his mouth was. They could not do the neuter because he was too frail to leave under sedation longer, and needed to get the rotted teeth out. All of this for a dog that's only approx. 2 years old.

Onto Tucson he went. Now, he's recovering, eating and trying to get strong enough for his neuter...

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