Success Stories

Cooper3, March 2003

As told by Cooper through his Rescuer:

My name is Cooper, and I am a one year-old Lab/mix. I thought I had the perfect life as a dog -- my owners let me run free and never had me neutered. I lived outside and did what I wanted, anytime I wanted to. That all changed one evening.

Looking back on my life, the perfect life I thought I had was in fact just the opposite. I know now that it was called 'neglect' but because I never experienced what it was like to be a part of a family, I did not know what I was missing. I was never taught manners or what was right from wrong.

My so-called "family" never welcomed me into their "pack". On rainy or cold nights I was outside looking in while my family was warm and comfortable inside sitting next to the fire. Maybe I was too hyperactive for them but I just could not help myself. Every time I would see them I would get very excited. This just left me to find my own fun. So that's just what I did.

But sadly, because I did not know cars were bad, I ran out in front of one and was hit. I was brought to the emergency clinic, and X-rays revealed my hip was out of socket and I had a cut on my leg that hurt very badly. The doctors said I would need surgery to fix my leg so it would stay in place. I did not understand what that meant but it was so painful I would do anything to make the pain go away. My owners did not feel the same way. All I had wanted to do was find a female dog -- that's what male dogs do right? My owners did not want to continue with treatment for me. They said they wanted to euthanize me. If that is what I think it means, they wanted me put to sleep forever! I was so sedated with pain medication I did not understand what in the world was going on -- but I did understand that.

And there you have it, my life was going to come to an end and there was nothing I could do about it. Maybe I shouldn't have chewed up my owner's slipper when I was a puppy, or dug a hole in the dirt. I will never know what it is like to have someone love me. I will never get to lay by the fire on a cold evening or sleep on a soft bed. I was minutes away from my fate when something wondrous happened...

A nice young lady working at the emergency clinic said she would help me. What? Someone who does not even know me is willing to help me? That next day she took me to another clinic and the doctor there put my hip back in place without surgery. Five days later I went to my new home. I have another Lab to play with, a big fenced-in back yard to play in, I get my own bed to sleep on INSIDE. I now enjoy what it is like to be in a loving home! My new family loves me and now I understand the importance of being neutered. I do not have the urge to roam to find a female.

Now I really do have the perfect life of a dog. I would like to thank LABMED for the financial help they provided for me. I am full of life and doing great!

Klondike's Story | Astro's Story

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