Success Stories

Shadow6, March, 2001

Shadow6 and his Golden Retriever buddy were comfortably housed in a barn in the New York City area. However, tragedy struck: the barn caught on fire and burned to the ground. The Golden Retriever was killed in the blaze, but Shadow managed to escape somehow. The firemen tracked a trail of blood, but were unable to find the young black male Lab and thought he must have died. Luckily, though, Shadow was found alive, and his rescuers took him to the local humane society.

A volunteer with Golden Retriever Rescue heard about Shadow's plight and decided to rescue the badly burned dog. Shadow was transported to a renowned veterinary hospital in New Jersey for evaluation and treatment. There it was found that Shadow had a huge burn along his back (about 10 by 12 inches) and several less severe burns. His fever was over 103 degrees, and the vet said it was one of the worst injuries he had ever seen.

Treatment for Shadow required daily bandage changes, for which he needed to be sedated, and frequent debriding of dead skin. The hospital planned to use a skin stretcher to increase skin volume and cover the damaged area. Although Shadow's burns started to heal, his recovery was slow and he was expected to have severe scarring of the burned areas.

Throughout his painful treatments, Shadow exhibited a fabulous temperament, dispensing kisses to everyone and constantly wagging his tail! He obviously had a strong will-to-live to have even survived, and he has remained a loving, sweet dog in spite of what he has been through. He became a favorite at the hospital, and one of the vet techs there has decided to adopt Shadow! She started taking him home at night even before his treatment was completed so that he could sleep happily on her bed.

In an incredible recovery, the skin around the massive burn on Shadow's back closed almost completely. However, as expected, the cost of treating Shadow was astronomical! The Golden Retriever Rescue volunteer took on the task of raising funds for Shadow, and contacted LABMED. We were happy to help, but could only fund a small portion of the huge bill. With help from many kind friends in the Golden Retriever rescue community and from those who heard about Shadow on the Internet - and with a substantial rescue discount from the vet - Shadow's treatment was paid for and he received an extraordinary second chance for a happy life.