Dogs With Broken Jaws Need Fosters, Says Pima Animal Care Center

TUCSON, AZ — The Pima Animal Care Center’s clinic in Tucson treated six dogs with broken jaws yesterday, and four of those six dogs need immediate fostering, says Nikki Reck, Pima Animal Care Center’s public information officer.

Reck says the dogs all were submitted separately to Pima Animal Care Center and that they were all injured in different ways. “For a couple of them, we aren’t sure [how],” she adds.

The four healing dogs that need fostering now are Zelda (PACC ID #A677348), Bella (PACC ID #A678025), Calvin (PACC ID #A677347) and Demi (PACC ID #A668245). During recovery, they eat “slurry,” a dog food “milkshake” that is lapped up without chewing. “They are regular dogs besides that,” Reck says. She recommends the dogs recover in a calm place, so it’s best to separate them from other animals in the home, for everyone’s safety.

Recovery time will vary by animal, but fosters should expect it to take weeks. Fosters are also asked to bring the dogs back to Pima Animal Care Center for checkups.

The Pima Animal Care Center receives about 17,000 pets annually or around 50 to 100 daily, and fostering is often recommended. “We’d love for as many pets as possible to go into foster care, because it is really good for their mental health. The shelter is a noisy, scary place for some dogs,” Reck explains. Long-stay cats and dogs and animals with medical conditions are the animals most needing fostering.

“Puppies and small dogs (unless they have some sort of medical condition) don’t typically need fostering because they get adopted as soon as they are available,” Reck concludes.

Anyone interested in fostering one of these four dogs pictured (or other animals) from Pima Animal Care Center can walk into the shelter during operating hours at 4000 N. Silverbell Rd. or email PACC.foster@pima.gov.