08/28/2026
Joe's story is very sad and breaks your heart to think what he has lived with. Sometimes you wish they could talk and tell us their story. But we can only imagine what happened to this poor soul. Someone reached out to a rescue person in a rural area. Joe was found as a stray running around for many months just going from place to place begging for food and trying to survive one more day. It was very apparent to all that met him that something tragic had happened to him because he was only able to walk on three legs. There was an old injury that was hidden and when he came to us we took him to our vet team at Central Kentucky and Dr. Kevin Fuller took an x-ray and found the secret to why Joey was only walking on three legs. He had been shot with a high caliber rifle that shattered his bone and detached that leg from his hip. The injury was a very old and there had been a lot of damage done to the leg. The muscles in that leg were also affected because of the injury being long ago. As you can see from the X-ray there is pieces of shrap metal from the bullet when it shattered his bone. Dr. Kevin Fueller thought there might be a chance to save the leg and perform the surgery. But once entering the leg and seeing the type of damage that had been done the decision was made for Joe since he lives so long without his leg working correctly that it would be best for him to have his leg removed. The surgery was put off for many weeks due to the fact that he was also lyme disease positive and needed to heal from that. Joe had his surgery this week and was released back to his foster's care to heal. Kentucky needs to do better and laws need to change. Nothing will change in Kentucky until spay and neuter becomes the owner's responsibility and becomes a law. We stand behind rescuers begging and pleading to law makers to push harder than ever to make it happen to have the animals’ voices heard loud and clear. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!!
Please share the stories to help spread the word. To look in the eyes of a dog or a cat holding on ONE MORE DAY for help to come is heartbreaking. Our team's hearts have been broken many times over. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! KENTUCKY, STAND UP AND SHOUT IT FROM HIGH ABOVE THE MOUNTAINS!!!!!
The medical care for Joe will cost is over $2,000.00 by the time he is completely healed. This is only one of the 12 special medical cases we have right now. If you can help us support these extreme cases we have taken on, please see the links below.
Thank you for being part of a life-saving team. Please pray for the animals of Kentucky. The cries and the tears they shed.
Go to paws4thecause.com or see the link below.
You can also mail a donation to:
Paws 4 the Cause
201 Newtown Pike
Lexington, KY 40508