Success Stories

Frosty/Jake6, August, 2001

One dog, two stories. Frosty/Jake's story begins in the summer of 2001 when his owners moved. They couldn't take him with them, so gave him to the new owners of the house. The new owners turned out not to want him, so took him out in the country and dumped him off to fend for himself. Frosty surprised them by returning to their doorstep.

The day animal control picked up Frosty turned out to be his lucky day! A kind-hearted lady was driving down the street and heard a dog cry out in pain. She stopped to investigate. It turned out to be Frosty screaming in pain as his leg got caught when the animal control officer was trying to get him into the truck.

The kind-hearted lady could not stand the thought of this dog being taken into custody. While negotiating with the animal control officer, she phone the veterinarian listed on the rabies tag and got the phone number of the owner. The owners agreed to sign Frosty over to her and the officer agreed. So, Frosty's new life began.

Even though she knew her home would only be temporary (she has cats and her husband won't let her have a dog) the rescuer stopped by a pet store on her way home and took Frosty in with her. He proved to be well behaved on the leash. She found the name of a groomer and Frosty had a nice bath. She even took him to the veterinarian for a health check. Although otherwise healthy, Frosty turned out to be heartworm positive.

The rescuer contacted Purebreed Lab Rescue INC. of Michigan. They could help her with placing the dog, but didn't have any funds to help with heartworm treatment. She turned to LABMED for help. We were happy to be able to fund the treatment. Although not set up for a dog, the rescuer did the best she could to provide a home for Frosty. She had to place him on a tie-out and his shelter was just a tarp stretched between two sawhorses. During the heartworm treatment, when the weather became too hot, Frosty was boarded at the vet's office. The rescuer would visit him, sharing her lunch with Frosty.

After his treatment was completed, Frosty was ready for a new home and a new name, Jake. A nice young woman came and visited Frosty and fell in love. She noticed he was limping on a rear leg. The rescuer had noticed the limp the day before and taken him to her vet. He gave Frosty a Cortisone injection and told the rescuer to bring him back in a couple of days if he was still limping.

The adopter took Frosty, now Jake, to her veterinarian for neutering and to have the leg checked out. An x-ray showed a bone chip floating in the fluid surrounding the join. Perhaps the injury was due to his leg being tangled in the tie-out, nobody knows for sure.

The cost of the surgery would depend on the extent of the injury. If the cruciate was torn in addition to the bone chip, the cost would be quite high. The new adopter could not afford the entire cost of the surgery and turned to LABMED for help. Jake did indeed have cruciate damage. The adopter paid a large portion of the bill and LABMED picked up the remainder.

At last word, Jake was doing very well in his forever home and well on his way to full recovery from the surgery.