As the MARS Rescue Director, I was frequently the one to receive calls and emails about Mini Aussies in need. On June 5th of 2006 I received an email about a small red merle Mini, mis-identified as an Anatolian Shepherd, in a shelter in Ohio. He had been picked up as a stray three days earlier. The shelter, being overcrowded, could not keep him much longer. He had been evaluated by an aussie person and she called him “perfect.” Gorgeous dark red merle, one blue eye and one brown, 15 inches tall, just over 30 pounds with a cute little natural bob tail, he was loving, attentive, good natured – yes, perfect seemed to fit Buster to a T.

Receiving help from our aussie friends, Buster was pulled from the shelter for MARS on June 10th, and taken to a wonderfully generous veterinarian who boarded him, treated him for his kennel cough and performed the necessary neuter, using acepromazine as an anesthetic, as we looked for a foster home. He called mid-week to tell us that Buster had ripped his stitches and that it had been necessary to put Buster in a cone in order to keep him from doing any more damage. Buster was uncomfortable, but handling things well. All the employees loved him.

On Father’s Day, Sunday, June 18^th, one of our volunteers flew his own plane to Ohio, where he picked up his single passenger, Buster, and took him to his foster home where he was to stay until he healed. Buster, with his calm, confident personality, managed the flight and the transition to yet another new place with good natured curiosity. Still hacking a bit with his kennel cough, he settled in to his new bed and into the hearts of his care-givers. We began to look for the perfect home for this perfect dog. And found one almost immediately. We started reference checking and setting up a home visit.

Unfortunately, Buster kept hacking, so on Monday, June 19^th, he made a trip to the vet. His cough was not improving and his incision was raw and obviously painful. The veterinarian felt that his cough may be canine flu and treated it aggressively with Baytril. To help with the pain, he prescribed Tubrotol. 5 mg. 3 times a day. None of us knew that Buster carried the mutant mdr1 gene, but by Friday of that week, Buster began to leave us.

I got a call that Buster had behaved aggressively towards a visitor and appeared to be having small seizure-like episodes. The fact that he was still wearing his cone had prevented any injury to the family members, but Buster was no longer free to roam the house at will. We immediately stopped the meds but, of course, the damage was done.

By the next day, Buster’s eyes were dilating and he appeared to be having trouble focusing. His aggressive behavior was no longer directed at strangers, but had become “indiscriminate” – he no longer recognized his care-givers during his episodes. He was a danger to those who cared for him.

I contacted the adopter with the wrenching news that Buster, our perfect dog, was no longer perfect. MARS had made the quick decision that we could not put her, her husband and daughter at risk by placing Buster in their home. We cried together – we both knew that Buster could not be placed with anyone.

Buster spent the next few days of his life with one of the most caring people I have ever known. She showed him love and comfort when he was Buster, and kept him from harm when he wasn’t. During a quiet time, she held him close as she swabbed the inside of his cheek for the mdr1 test, and I’m sure that his coat was damp with her tears. The test results showed that Buster was normal/mutant. His brain could not rid itself of the common medications that were administered to him in the previous weeks. To Buster, and all dogs with the mutant mdr1 gene, those medications were poison. On July 5^th, a month to the day from when I first saw his picture, Buster was dead.

Only a few of us ever met Buster, or petted him, or looked directly into those two beautiful eyes, one blue and one brown. But we all know Buster, and we grieve for him. His care giver vowed that Buster would not die in vain, that his death would be the catalyst for investigation and dissemination of the information that we were receiving about the effects of certain drugs on dogs with the mdr1 gene. The “Buster Alert” is his legacy. It has made us aware that many of our dogs are at risk and that we have to be responsible for learning how to protect them. None of us will ever forget Buster, and many of us will be forever grateful to him. Our perfect dog.

Marla McCormick, President

Mini Aussie Rescue & Support