Success Stories

Coco Puff, March 2002

Coco Puff was in imminent danger of being euthanized at the tender age of 10 months. Her rescuer wrote this story about how they came to save Coco Puff (now renamed KoKo) from death. Because of LABMED's funding, another Lab's life may be saved in the future as well.

Her rescuer writes:

On February 1st of this year we were at the vet having our dog Tito's teeth x-rayed. We spend a lot of time and money at our vet (we have 2 dogs and 3 cats), so we are no strangers to the people there. Our vet told us that he had a difficult case that evening, as he had a dog he was supposed to put to sleep. He explained that she was a 10-month-old chocolate lab who had been shot in her leg. I think he saw us for the animal lovers we are, and took us back to the kennel where the dog was being kept. She was beautiful and sweet, but scared. Her leg was bandaged, but other than that she seemed completely whole and healthy to us. We questioned the vet why she was being put to sleep - couldn't the leg be repaired? As we soon learned, although her family had already paid for her x-rays and splinting, they were unable to pay the surgery bill and thus had opted to have her euthanized. They had left the dog there, and were due back in 30 minutes to pick her up for home burial.

Having issues with a wonderful young dog being put to sleep, we frantically began negotiating with the vet. In the end, we agreed that the vet could foot some of the bill, we would pay some, and we would work to raise as much as we could. We also agreed that we would provide her with a foster home and find a good permanent home for her - a home that would give her plenty of love, exercise, good food, and solid training. We all agreed that she was no longer a hunting dog.She was now certainly gun shy.

The name of this wonderful chocolate lab is Coco Puff. She had her surgery,spent two days at the vet, and then came home with us. She spent several weeks with us, during which time we received generous donations from friends, but nowhere near what was needed for her surgery. We heard of LABMED from a friend and filled out an application.

LABMED agreed to pay the remaining portion of Coco's surgery bill! The vet gave several services and checkups for free, and wrote off the final portion of the charges that accrued during her recovery period.

We spent a few weeks with Coco Puff, getting a sense of her personality, training, and energy level so that we could determine what would make the right home for her. Ultimately, we placed her in the home of some dear friends. She has since moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she appears to be living a very happy life with her new mom and dad, her new sister Jessie (a black lab mix), 2 cats, and a bird. She gets to play ball and Frisbee every day, and I'm sure she'll soon have a large vocabulary and know how to spell, just like Jessie does. Coco Puff, whose name has been changed to KoKo, gets to go swimming, backpacking, and fishing. Best of all, we'll be moving to New Mexico soon too, and will get to go do all those things with her!

Thanks, LABMED, for helping us save this beautiful Lab! Thanks to you, we will again become involved with rescuing a dog, when we once again end up in the right place, at the right time.

And an update from KoKo's new owners:

KoKo *LOVES* the water. She's a great swimmer (and diver), and I'm sure it helped strengthen her leg too. She's been very happy with her new home and surroundings.