Success Stories

Teddy2, May, 2001

Teddy2 is available for adoption, check the LABMED Adoption Page for contact information.

Teddy's rescuer wrote:

"We found Teddy on the freeway, North of Phoenix, while returning from a trip up North. She was by the side of the road, sniffing around and going about her dog duties. We pulled over as soon as we could, and I jumped out to see what I could do to help. Christy stayed with our two other adopted rescue dogs in the car. Unfortunately, we had crossed a bridge by the time we stopped, so now this bridge was between Teddy and me. There was a 3ft retainer wall on the side of the bridge, about 4ft of space between the wall and the traffic which was traveling at 80 mph.

At first, Teddy came right to me, wagging her tail. I was within inches of having her when, I guess, the traffic scared her. We were inches from the traffic. In an attempt to get away from the traffic, she jumped the retainer wall. She didn't know she was on a 25' bridge.

I can't tell you how I felt when she jumped, it was beyond awful, way beyond. I was afraid to look over the side, expecting to see a big puddle of dog spread across the concrete below. Although Teddy miraculously survived her fall, she did break both of her front legs.

By this time, Christy had joined me; she turned around and found her way down to the dog. Two other people, a young couple, joined in the rescue. I stayed on the road and called the Humane Society.

Although Teddy was hurt badly, afraid, and in shock, she was loving, gentle, and affectionate. She laid there wagging her tail, whimpering, and trusting these three strangers. The HS showed up, cut down a wire fence, and we brought Teddy up to their truck.

We spent the first night in an emergency clinic, waiting while they put her front legs back together well enough for us to take her home. That was about three months ago. Teddy spent two months in splints, the vets hoping her legs would heal on their own. Finally, we had to have one leg fused. The other will be done once this one heals.

We've had fun with her. She gets along perfectly with our other two dogs. It seems the only thing she wants to do is please us. It turned out she's house broken very well, loves hugs and kisses, and is just an all around great dog. She does talk in her sleep though. During the night, we hear all sorts of moans and small noises as she's dreaming. It's pretty cute. We just hope she isn't reliving that day on the bridge.

The vets say she'll be fine, once she heals. Her front legs will be stiff, unable to bend at the wrist, but aside from that, she'll be in great shape. We think she's about 3 or 4, so she has a lot of good years left in her. I'll put it this way, we love her enough to invest a considerable amount of money that we don't really have in her recovery. She's a great dog. Whoever adopts her needs to be just as great."

Teddy's rescuer contacted LABMED for help with the bills for her leg surgery. While we could not fund the whole amount, we were able to help out with a portion of the expenses.