One Monday morning in March, shelter staff
arrived at work to find a note left by the Arkansas City Police Department stating that
they had left us eleven dogs the previous night. Wait …. ELEVEN?? Yes, that was
correct. The owner of the dogs had passed away leaving two adult, yellow labs
and their nine puppies homeless.
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Two of Truly's puppies
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| Truly |
The dogs were examined, vaccinated, and
de-wormed as is customary when taking in new animals. They were placed on “stray
hold” even though they weren’t technically strays. This hold is placed on all
animals brought to us by anyone other than the owner to give owners time to
reclaim them.
The following day we were contacted by Amanda
Winkelman, the owner’s sister, who had now inherited the dogs. She had decided
not to claim them and agreed to sign them over to us. The puppies were all of
age to be vetted and made available for adoption. Amanda and her friends helped
spread the word that they were at the CCHS and we soon had a great deal of
interest in the beautiful pups. They were adopted out to their new furever
families very quickly.
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| Truly, Ace, and Amanda |
A short time later Amanda contacted us and said
she had decided she just had to adopt Truly, the mother. Truly was very beloved by her brother and went everywhere with him. She felt adopting Truly and giving
her a loving, furever home was a fitting memorial to him. But we had sad news to
pass on to Amanda: Truly had tested positive for heartworms. Heartworm
treatment is very costly and can run upward of $1,500. Many families just can’t
take on that financial burden, but Amanda was not to be daunted! She spoke with
her veterinarian and they made a treatment plan for Truly. On April 6, Amanda
adopted Truly. Amanda says, “She has been doing amazing! I’m so glad she was
able to join our family. She has been the best thing for Ace (the family’s other
dog). They play all the time. She loves playing fetch, especially with my
daughter, Jessalyn.”
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| Ace and Truly |
Truly is a sweet-tempered, cheerful girl and
we’re so happy that her story, which contained such tragedy, had a happy
ending!
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