In March, Artie suffered a terrible injury to his front leg and limped along for weeks, dragging the leg until all the flesh was gone and the bone was sticking out. Finally, his owner dumped the young boykin spaniel at the West Memphis Animal Shelter to be put to sleep. But Artie won the hearts of the shelter employees who sent out an all-points-bulletin on the internet to save him, and that's how Artie became a Happy Dog.
Artie was very sick, however, and arrangements were made for him to be treated by their WM vet prior to going to foster care. Immediate amputation of his damaged useless leg was recommended to save Artie's life from a raging infection.
A few days later Artie made his way to Memphis and into the hearts of everyone who met him; it was easy to see why the shelter employees had worked so hard to give him a second chance. Even sick as he was, Artie's sweet loving personality shone through all the time. A steady stream of GDR volunteers visited Artie in his foster home, and he always had a big smile and tail wag for everyone.
Soon after his arrival in Memphis, Artie was taken to our local vet clinic for evaluation and the news wasn't good. Artie's amputation wasn't healing and would have to be redone. What more would this poor dog have to endure? The second amputation was performed, removing a little more of Artie's stump, but this surgery didn't takeĀ either and yet a THIRD amputation was needed to remove his entire leg up to the shoulder. Only then did Artie's amputated stump finally heal.
But Artie's ordeal wasn't over yet. Our vet discovered a mass in Artie's abdomen and exploratory surgery was performed to remove it. For a week, we waited nervously for the biopsy result and finally the report came back BENIGN! What a relief!
Our relief was short-lived, however, for now it was time for Artie to undergo the grueling treatment for heartworms. The vet predicted this might be his greatest challenge yet. Over the next few months, several treatments were done, but all the while, Artie smiled and wagged his tail, just grateful for the love and attention he was getting, just grateful that somebody cared about him.
Finally, Artie was healthy, happy and adopted by a loving family on a farm in Vermont. It was a long and winding road, but with the help of so many caring people, Artie finally made it. What a Happy Dog!
but Artie's vet bills exceeded $3,000...
and that's why we established Artie's Fund to enable us to rescue not just healthy dogs but also the dogs like Artie with catastrophic illness or injury.