Success Stories

Ellie, May 1999

Ellie was found wandering as a stray, ending up in the Wayne County (Ohio) Humane Society with no one coming to claim her, and no identification of any kind. Ellie appeared to be favoring her right hind leg, and Hip Dysplasia was one possible explanation. Xrays were taken of the hip joint, but no sign of injury or hip dysplasia could be found.

Soon, Ellie was adopted out of the shelter, and she was eventually taken to the local vet for further diagnosis of the lameness by her new owner. She appeard to be suffering from a tear of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament and surgery would be required to put things right. Faced with a large veterinary bill, Ellie's new owner was referred to LABMED by the Lab Rescue contact at the Wayne County Humane Society.

LABMED had recently changed its guidelines to allow the funding of certain recently adopted pets, and it looked like Ellie might be the first case to take advantage of these changes. After careful deliberation, the LABMED board voted to fund two thirds of Ellie's veterinary bill. We have since received an update about Ellie, and have learned that her surgery appears to have been quite successful. Ellie's lameness was much reduced just one week after surgery and her new owner is very pleased with her progress to date.