Ross cayden's story

Ross Cayden was the most severe case of animal abuse in our community.  An anonymous caller reported to Caroline County Humane Society that there were dogs locked in a shed, starving to death. On November 3, 2016, when officers checked out the location, Ross Cayden and his sister Miracle were found severely emaciated, sick and wounded.   Ross Cayden was rescued hours before death, weighing only 28 pounds with a body temperature of just 86 degrees. He could not lift his head or move at all, he was in fact, dying. The humane society had to decide if he needed to be humanely euthanized because he was already in the beginning states of death or if he would be able to fight and live. The team of rescuers looked into his eyes and decided that he had the desire to fight for his life so they wanted to give him that opportunity. They named him Ross Cayden because Cayden means “The Strong Fighter” and then he was immediately rushed to Anne Arundel Veterinary Emergency Clinic in Annapolis, Maryland where he began receiving multiple blood transfusions, IV's, medication and a host of other life-saving treatments.   The Caroline County Humane Society put out a plea to the local community for assistance as they knew this was going to be a long road to recovery and they were in need of the community’s help financially to cover all of his extensive medical bills and they would also need an experienced foster home where Ross could continue his medical treatment, rest, reengage with people and regain his health. After a week in the emergency clinic, Ross slowly began to lift his head and start to stand on his own.   He was released to foster care on November 11, 2016, where he began his slow and painful road to recovery. In foster care, Ross continued to fight extremely hard each day to regain his strength, his health and his happiness.  He needed assistance walking, sitting up and standing. Ross often would fall over, fall forward on his head and when he wanted to lay down, he would just fall and sleep where he landed. He did not have the strength to position himself in any certain way, he literally had to rest in the position he fell down in.  His skin peeled layer after layer for many weeks, producing a constant irritating itch and he had an infected wound on his foot that just added to his pain.  With over 200 bite marks on one leg alone, Ross had many areas that needed medical attention and healing.    Sadly, Ross would wake from his sleep with a persistent chewing motion, simply starving for food. He had to be on a strict feeding schedule four times a day to slowly reintroduce his body to normal amounts of food, despite his strong desire to want much more. He continued on medications and prescription digestive food for months along with frequent veterinarian visits subjected to blood drawls and other health status testing and eventually he slowly started to get better day-by-day.    This strong warrior pushed himself physically to stand on his own every chance he could and each day he would attempt to walk further and further, often too exhausted to make the return trip back. He never gave up, he never felt defeated and he continued to try again, eventually succeeding and giving us the occasional tail wag.   Ross Cayden was adopted by his foster family on February 17, 2017 and lived six and half healthy and happy years after his rescue with minor long-term physical effects of his severe abuse.  Ross sadly passed away in the loving arms of his mom and dad on May 11, 2023.   We promised to keep his legacy alive and save other animals like him.   Our conviction, through Ross’ legacy, is to provide financial assistance for life saving medical care for animals in the same situation as Ross was and to fight for legislation for tougher laws and harsher sentences for convicted animals abusers, as well as the implementation of a National Animal Abuse Offender Registry.