New Regular Contributor: Animal Homeopath Shirley Moore

Shirley:

It is both a pleasure and an honor to serve as a contributor to The Animal Wellness Guide. My life’s work is rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming abandoned dogs. In 1999 my husband and I founded a humane society, Save A Dog, and for the first nine years we operated it out of our home. At the time I had no idea what I was getting myself into, because rescuing dogs is about the most labor-intensive work on earth and sometimes it requires every waking minute of your life, but I have to say that it has been one of the most rewarding endeavors I’ve ever undertaken.

Living with dogs, from dawn until bedtime, has given me a connection with these soulful creatures that is hard to put into words, and the best way to sum it up would be to say that nobody will ever convince me that dogs are not sent from heaven and return directly to heaven when they leave this earth. I cannot think of a more Divine gift to mankind than the canine species. If you know dogs you will agree that they are the epitome of unconditional love while being the most misunderstand and underrated beings on this planet. They deserve every minute that we can devote to them. Spending time helping a dog is never a wasted effort, no matter how futile the situation may seem. Many of the volunteers who have worked with us over the years say that they do it to pay back their dog for all the love they’ve received.

Discovering Homeopathy

I believe that discovering homeopathy is one of the greatest blessings I’ve ever received in my work of rescuing dogs and it is also one of the most pleasant surprises. I already knew from experience that there was a right way and a wrong way to restore a dog to health. After many years of practicing conventional medicine on our rescued friends, I slowly learned that the fewer chemicals and the more fresh foods, fresh air, and fresh herbs the dog received, the healthier the dog would be, especially in the long term. I had heard of homeopathy, but like others, I just thought it was an herb or a supplement. I had no idea that it was energy medicine or that it was a highly developed system of medicine whose founder was a German physician, Dr. Hahnemann, who took meticulous notes and left a legacy of documentation that is relevant to this day.

While I was working in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, I contracted a case of ringworm that was unresponsive to conventional medicine. After five months of futile attempts using various prescriptions, it cleared up in a couple of short days using an over-the-counter homeopathic remedy. This sparked my interest, but the clincher was when I witnessed the remarkable results of homeopathy on a puppy who had gone into anaphylactic shock after suffering from a bee sting. The pup was lethargic when she was brought to me by her foster mom. Her muzzle was three times its normal size, she was covered in welts, and her eyes were swollen shut. Within ten short minutes after we gave her homeopathic Apis (which is made from the honey bee), the swelling went down, the pup’s eyes opened, and she wiggled to get down to play. My jaw literally dropped and I vowed right then that I needed to learn everything there was to know about this wonderful system of medicine. I owed it to the dogs and to the wonderful dog adopters.

While attending Teleosis School of Homeopathy I was immediately able to put my skills to work on the various rescued dogs who needed help. With so many rescued dogs that come in suffering from all sorts of ills, I saw many miraculous results with this gentle therapy. Using homeopathy, I’ve treated puppies with parvo, mange, vaccine damage, and also treated many adult dogs with various ills and injuries. Homeopathy has a learning curve, but it is worth every effort because it can be the pathway to the cure when the remedy you choose matches the totality of the symptoms of the suffering animal.

Skippy’s Story

My own Jack Russell is a walking miracle, thanks to homeopathy. Skippy was our foster dog, a tough little dog whose immune system suffered greatly after he received many injections of ivermectin by a well-meaning, veterinarian to treat his demodectic mange. His fur fell out in clumps and his skin was a mass of open sores. He was on prednisone and gained a lot of weight. Then had a stroke that left the right side of his face paralyzed. His blood work was off the charts and his adrenals were completely depleted. Three different vets told me to put him down, that he was incurable. One day when Skippy was at his worst I thought “today is his last day” but then my husband called to tell me that Skippy was outside rolling in a dead snake he had just killed – he was such a fighter.

Finding the perfect homeopathic remedy for such a sick dog did not happen overnight, but I was determined and after several failed attempts I finally did find a remedy that was the perfect match for his symptoms. Two days after giving the remedy I came downstairs to give Skippy his breakfast and he was looking up at me with two blinking eyes and no more head tilt – the paralysis was gone. Within another few weeks his fur started to grow back and I knew he was cured. Today Skippy runs and plays and has a zest for life that is beyond inspiring. It took the better part of a year to restore Skippy to a healthy state, but it was so worth it. I have homeopathy to thank for restoring Skippy.

  
I love spreading the joy of homeopathy to anyone who wants to learn. One of my goals is to see more and more animal shelters embrace a holistic protocol and to use homeopathy. It is such a gentle system of medicine and it is inexpensive as well. The money saved on vet bills can be used to save more dogs. Thanks for giving me this opportunity to share my story.

Learn more about how to use homeopathic remedies with animals in Shirley’s other articles here on AWG, and in her book A Healer in Every Home

 
Also see our book review here.