Alison has a thing for short, squatty, smooshy faced creatures – we all know it, and she freely admits it! Nellie Rae has been one of her most recent squatty, smooshy pups who came to us just a few short months ago. She was one of those ones that as soon as she saw her picture from the rescue group we work with, she knew she wanted to help her! She is so cute and sweet, I can’t say I blame her at all and I was definitely on board for helping Miss Nellie! Nellie Rae had a roug

During our 2018 trip to Big Corn Island, Nicaragua, we had the pleasure of helping a furry version of Miss Miley Cyrus. This Miley was a big chunky, 9 year old female Doberman who came to see us at the clinic the first day. Unfortunately, Miley was not doing well – she had been losing weight for a few weeks, and in the past week had stopped eating all together and was very lethargic. After examining her and running our tick test, we found out the poor girl was positive for

On a cold day at the end of January of last year, a client came in with a teeny tiny 3 week old great dane puppy wrapped up in a towel. Dr Cody was his doctor, and the client explained how he has been a ‘poor doer’ and hasn’t been thriving since he was born. He had found him with a wound a few days prior, and brought him in because he was seeming to do worse and worse as each day went on. Dr Cody unwrapped the towel to see the cutest little black and white pup, with a terr

Going way back in the rescue’s history, all the way to 2013, I want to tell the story of the piggy puppies. We came across an urgent posting from ACCT, the Philadelphia shelter, for a litter of 4 puppies who were surrendered for severe skin infections and needed out of the shelter ASAP. These puppies were so sad…they were completely naked, with horrible skin infections – crusted skin, raw spots, bleeding sores, they were so uncomfortable! And when I say horrible, I mean horr

I shared this week on our Harley’s Haven social media about how BCI is having another distemper outbreak, and I felt like it was also a good time to share some of the back story here. About 7 or so years ago, there was a HUGE outbreak of distemper on the island – it easily killed hundreds of dogs…very sad and very devastating for such a small community. Distemper is one of those viruses you hope you never deal with. There is no cure – there is only time, and support, and a wi

Our first year on BCI on our veterinary mission trip, one of the very first dogs we came in contact with was Monica. At the time we met her, we thought she was a friendly stray who liked to hang out at the hotel where we were staying called Casa Canada (yes, it is owned by a bunch of Canadians). She is an adorable little brown ‘island dog’ – about 30lbs, with lean legs and a short coat – a mutt through and through. She wandered down that first morning at breakfast where we

The very early days of Pennridge were challenging in so many ways. Working out of just one room, with half hearted heat in the winter, and only one computer and one phone, was definitely an experience. For those who missed that fine time period, the main entrance to the hospital was the tiny door on the left of the building that now enters into an office area. Back then, it was a small, non-insulated porch, that then led into the living room (as we affectionately called it).

This first year of traveling to Big Corn Island was definitely an experience. This tiny island is not exactly easy to get to – after leaving our houses at approximately 4:30am, we arrived in Managua, Nicaragua in the afternoon, to prepare for the final leg of our journey. A huge part of the success of our first trip was making contacts with a group called NicaVets, who also travel in Nicaragua doing mission work on the mainland, as well as on BCI. This group of amazing people

As I have introduced you to both Harley’s Haven and Pennridge Animal Hospital, I do believe that this secondary project requires its own introduction. Though Harley’s Haven primarily focuses on helping animals right here in Pennsylvania, there is a great need for help for animals around the world as well. It is unrealistic to think that one person, or a small group of people can help everyone, everywhere. However, thinking about our work on Big Corn Island always makes me thi

We are starting up a new weekly series that highlights some of the stories of the good work we have done with Harley's Haven and Pennridge Animal Hospital - read on to hear more, and be sure to tune in on Sundays for more stories! The story of Harley’s Haven starts in April, 2003. I was a freshman in college, and was working at a local vet hospital as a technician part-time during school for experience. I was there one day when we took a call from a woman who was calling to