On Monday March 28, 2016 on a rural farm road near Selma, CA I "nearly" ran over these adorable pups wandering in and out of the grapevines and onto the blacktop. You know you’re in for a scare when the anti-lock brakes engage and your car lurches forward. I thought, please God tell me that I didn't run one over.

 I gazed out the windshield with the dust swirling in mini cyclones around my SUV.  I took my first cautious step and then looked underneath the car...all clear. What a relief but standing staring at these pups running amok I knew it would only be a matter of time when they would succumb to a tractor or semi.  
There were six total as far as I could see but I was unsuccessful corralling the complete litter.  These two girls approached me and one the look at their faces said it all. They had me at first bark.  So we drove south them resting in a Costco box with old beach towel, a water bowl and me wrestling to figure out what I was going to do.  

I hadn't planned on adding any new pets to my household.  Although I havent been without a large breed dog in 25 years I was going to take a year before adopting again.  I'm 55 and travel moderately for work so adding a new pet(s) was not part of immediate my plan. 

Just this last winter, I said goodbye to my old girl Ella, a gorgeous black Labrador. I miss her dearly but I like to think of her playing on the beaches in heaven with her brother Willoughby a yellow lab that had died a year earlier. Wil was my buddy-guard and was such a  wonderful companion that I barely can say his name two years later without crying. Here they are at the Dog beach in Huntington Beach 2006.



Have you picked up the theme here? Allow me to summarize:

I missed the transition at the HWY 99 and continued on 41.    I make this trip often and never missed the cut-off.

While off the grid on a desolate farm road, I went in search of fresh farm fruit in the middle of nowhere. I found no fruit but almost killed a litter of puppies.

The two pups that approached me were yellow and black labs. Wil and Ella were the same breed and color.

This seriously plays out like a movie.  I felt like Kevin Costner standing in his crop hearing the haunting phrase “if you build it, he will come” . My message was just as clear, “If you take us, we will live.”

So throughout the drive I kept telling myself well you recued them that's the important part right?  Someone good would take them; I'll just clean them up, take them to the vet and then spread the news to my family and friends.  Easy-Peasy...

After a bath in the kitchen sink, some Blue Buffalo puppy food samples I happened to have, I called my neighbors over to see what I have brought back this trip. With eyes as big as Oreos,  the darling 5-yr old from next door Savannah said “look mommy Carol went to heaven on business and brought back Wil and Ella!”

I phoned Washington Blvd. Animal Hospital the very next day to make an appointment to bring them in for first shots and a look over.  When I walked in the office to cheers and applause with a pup in each arm, I told the staff, "Hang on...I didn't say I was keeping them"! That remark was followed with assorted "yeah, sure".  

It all became too real when my most fabulous vet Sara Husein DVM, said while examining the white pup "Carol...I hear something".  Within 15 minutes she had the consensus from three vets on shift that our white pup most likely had a congenital heart defect referred to as PDA Patent Ductus Arteriosus a serious condition that unless surgically repaired the puppy will never reach adulthood. I only had a few questions, would the dog lead a normal life after procedure? How much does it cost and how long do I have to make a decision?



Dr. Husein referred me to the cardiac surgeons in the area and I scheduled an appointment.  These specialists would be best to explain in detail and confirm the diagnosis.

This exam was preformed yesterday 4/15/2016 at VCA in Lawndale, CA and the test confirmed that it was PDA and the hole was on the larger size but repairable.  Even though the puppy is barely 12 weeks old, internally her heart is already 10% enlarged and would increase in size each week. If left untreated her death is eminent in less that six months from now.



On a positive note,  Dr. Yuhas explained that this dog was an ideal candidate because of her size and breed durability. Statistically she should recover in the top 98% with almost no limitations. 

So I'm in about a $1,000 so far but I need to reach out especially to those who have connections to rescue groups that could channel some donations this way to help fund this $5,000 procedure.

Several rescue foundations I contacted advocated this "GoFundMe" process and assured me that they would disseminate this appeal to their members and those members would act or pass it on to folks in their network.





I've always maintained the philosophy that you never name an animal that you are not going to keep. 

So without further delay, please help us help Charlotte.

Thank you for any support or advice you can offer.

With licks and wags, 

Charlotte and her sister Georgiana.




http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/DeviceApprovalsandClearances/Recently-ApprovedDevices/ucm083978.htm