From People:
“Disabled Dog Saved an Hour
Before Euthanasia Deadline Is Thriving with Wheelchair and New Home”
A disabled dog that was due to be
put down was saved an hour before the deadline and now lives a happy life with
her adoptive family, who got the canine a custom wheelchair. Poppie, a German
shepherd/Chow Chow mix, suffers from Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH), which means
her cerebellum is underdeveloped, a condition that affects her mobility. CH
affects coordination, balance, and motor skills but causes Poppie no pain. Poppie
has been in and out of shelters all her life as no one wanted to care for the
pooch due to her condition and apparent aggression. Recently she was
surrendered to a California shelter and scheduled to be put down.
Diane Ewert, who had ties to a
local dog rescue in Kingsburg, California, was alerted to Poppie's case by a
friend and showed up at the shelter to save the pup, arriving within an hour of
the dog's euthanasia time. "I received a message on Facebook from a high
school friend of mine letting me know that Poppie was about to be euthanized at
the shelter," Ewert told SWNS. "My friend reached out to me and
explained the situation. I went to the local rescue that I work with and had
them tag her, which basically means that the rescue is taking responsibility
for the dog," the animal lover added. When Ewert went to pick up Poppie,
the dog greeted her by excitedly bursting through the shelter doors. "I
had never met Poppie, and the first time I saw her was when she wobbled out the
door to me in the shelter," Ewert said of her first introduction to
Poppie. "I soon discovered how reactive she was. She sounded extremely
aggressive. "Eventually, I did take her home, and one by one introduced
her to my dogs, and it was immediate to me that everyone had misunderstood
Poppie," she added. "Everybody labeled her as aggressive but, she
just wanted to be loved and just wanted to be near the thing that she was being
so reactive to. This was a huge relief to me."
Diane worked hard to find her
forever home and found Poppie the perfect family in Christina Powell and her
fiancé Garret, from Alberta, Canada. "I set up her own Gmail and
eventually got an email from Christina and Garret. I was in tears reading their
email. It was almost too good to be true, but at the same time, I knew they
were Poppie's forever home," Ewert said of how the dog's adoption process
began. "I cannot believe how lucky I was to be a part of this journey for
her. This is a foster story that I will never forget." The couple renamed
Poppie to Timber, and she now lives a happy life complete with doggy sibling
Kona and a custom-built wheelchair adorned with Christmas decorations. "Timber
is an absolute ray of sunshine. She approaches every task with an 'I can'
mentality, and if something does not go the way she planned, she brushes it off
and finds another way," Powell said. "Her life and care are very
similar to that of a neurotypical pup. She requires no medications or ongoing
vet treatment. Our goal is to provide education and advocacy so that more dogs
like Timber find forever families," she added.
^ This is such a sad yet also
happy story. I am so happy that Poppie/Timber was saved and is now thriving in
her new home. ^
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