Yellow is the New Black

Kline walks down the halls of the Winfield Correctional Facility (WCF), aka: "The Hill", happily greeting everyone he sees. This cheerful six year-old lab spreads sunshine wherever he goes. And he has a lot of reason to be cheerful.

Kline was found wandering in rural Cowley County near Winfield in early April and brought to CCHS. Our initial exam determined him to be overweight, his coat dirty and infested with ticks, but otherwise he appeared to be healthy. Closer examination, however, revealed Kline to be heartworm positive. And now the difficult decision began - treat or not.

Heartworm disease in dogs is treatable but it is quite expensive and can stress our already very thinly stretched budget. It also calls for a lengthy recovery period which would require us to hold him in a kennel for months - a kennel which could house multiple other dogs in that time. Left untreated however, it is a death sentence.

On June 7th the treatment for Kline's heartworms began. Heartworm disease in dogs is treated with Immiticide, an arsenic-based medication. The dog is given two injections that will kill the adult heartworms in the heart. After treatment, the worms begin to die. And as they die they break up into pieces, which can cause a blockage of the pulmonary vessels and death. For this reason, dogs have to be kept quiet during the treatment and then for several months afterward.

After his treatment, Kline was sent to The Hill - not to be incarcerated, but to be fostered. The WCF regularly fosters dogs for CCHS who need special attention. In Kline's case, he needs to be kept calm and quiet for a few months while his treatment does its work. The Hill is the perfect place for this.

Kline is now happily on the road to recovery. He has captured the hearts of those he comes in contact with on a daily basis at The Hill - so much so that two of the WCF employees are interested in adopting him once he is well. Kline, who came to us with a terminal condition, is now on the mend and has a home waiting for him. What a lucky dog!

Did You Know?

The inmates and staff of  the Winfield Correctional Facility (WCF) help us in many ways. Inmates on work release help clean the kennels, and feed and water the animals, saving us the cost of having to hire additional shelter staff.

The WCF work crew can do repairs, like fixing the deteriorating outdoor kennels and enabling us to pass state inspection.

WCF also provides foster homes for our dogs, many of which are injured, ill, very young, or have behavioral issues. At WCF they can be attended to 24 hours a day, recuperate, receive basic training and a lot of TLC, raising the chances of being adopted. Since 2010, WCF has fostered 364 dogs for us!

Top: Winfield Correctional Facility (WCF).
Bottom: Some of the many dogs WCF has fostered for the Cowley County
Humane Society (CCHS). (From left to right) Sofia came to CCHS with a
mouth tumor and infested with parasites, Clarabelle is deaf and suffered
from eye and ear infections and Grace was only two weeks old when CCHS
took her in.

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