Post by Wetdog on Oct 2, 2006 8:21:07 GMT 1
The kindness of strangers overcomes cruelty of others
Tossed off a bridge, two Weimaraner pups find special friends in KC and around the world.
By MARIANNE SEREGI
The Kansas City Star
It looks as if the two puppies were thrown off a bridge.
Two joggers found them several months ago starving under that bridge in Oklahoma, their legs broken.
Ten animal shelters turned the Weimaraner puppies away — but not a rescue group in the Kansas City area.
On Thursday, the dogs — Charlie and Parker, nursed back to health — met their new owners. And the rescue group couldn’t be happier.
“They’re very outgoing now,” said Gail Orth-Aikmus, founder and director of Heartland Weimaraner Rescue in Pleasant Valley. “Weimaraners are pretty resilient and pretty forgiving of human unkindness.”
In June, Dennis McGee, 47, and his son Jesse McGee, 21, had just finished a three-mile run and were walking home in Piedmont, Okla., when they heard whimpering from beneath a bridge. After coaxing the dogs from their hiding place 15 feet below, the father and son led the limping pair to their house, a half-mile away.
“We couldn’t tell if they were just weak or if they were hurt,” Dennis McGee said.
The 12-week-old littermates, Charlie, a female, and Parker, a male, were flea bitten, tick infested and severely emaciated. Veterinarians believe that the dogs had been thrown off the bridge three weeks earlier.
The two dogs looked as if they had learned to take care of each other, Dennis McGee said. “They were lying on top of each other,” he said.
But they were also starving, said Kellie Pennington, McGee’s 19-year-old daughter. “The little girl was eating bugs off the porch,” she said.
Pennington wanted to keep the pups but had to give them up after a veterinarian said fixing a broken hind leg on each dog would cost a total of about $6,000. She tried several shelters and rescue centers, but all said they were at capacity.
When Heartland Weimaraner Rescue heard about the dogs, it sent volunteers to fetch them. The dogs arrived in Kansas City on June 18, four days after they were discovered.
At first, things didn’t get much better. The first local vet to see the dogs recommended amputation.
The rescue group sought more opinions and eventually hired Roger Becker of Independence Animal Hospital, who offered to fix the legs at a reduced rate.
Now, after more than two months of twice-weekly rehabilitation sessions, the dogs are doing well.
Charlie weighs 50 pounds and has full use of all of her legs. Parker weighs 60 pounds and only has slight stiffness in one knee.
“Both of those dogs function beautifully,” said Cheri Kollman, a certified canine rehab practitioner who covers the Northland and donated her services.
Donations for the dogs came from as far away as Australia and Portugal. Enough money was raised to pay for all the dogs’ medical needs.
Charlie and Parker’s new owners are from Victoria in British Columbia. That may seem like a long way off, but the rescue group chose Michael and Michele Wonnacott from a list of several applicants. Michele Wonnacott is a dog obedience trainer, and she works in her own 1,300-square-foot facility.
The injuries the dogs suffered were “something we thought we could help with,” Michael Wonnacott said Thursday in Kansas City.
The Wonnacotts have a Web site for the dogs at www.charlieandparker.com. Soon the site will have a blog that is regularly updated with photos and stories.
Because of Charlie and Parker, the Heartland Weimaraner Rescue has added Oklahoma to its coverage area. The group also works with dogs in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. In all, it has taken in 92 dogs so far this year.
“A lot of people are afraid to help animals that are hurt, not realizing there are groups to help them,” said Orth-Aikmus.
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@ For more information about Weimaraners and rescue efforts, visit www.heartlandweimrescue.org .
I thought everyone might like to see how the story ended, we had several people from this board help save Charlie and Parker and give them a new life. The Canadian Press also picked up the story .
National B.C. couple adopt celebrity puppies abandoned in Oklahoma
Charlie was rescued after being thrown from a bridge in Oklahoma.
Photograph by : Photos from www.heartlandweimrescue.org
More pictures: < Prev | Next > CanWest News Service; Vancouver Province
Published: Sunday, October 01, 2006 Article tools
Printer friendly
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Font: * * * * Celebrity pooches Charlie and Parker were happy as birds Saturday in anticipation of their trip to their new home in Victoria.
The two Weimaraner puppies, whose tale of surviving for three weeks after being thrown off an Oklahoma bridge touched the hearts of people worldwide, are being brought home today by new owners Michele and Michael Wonnacott.
Michele is a dog trainer specializing in emotional rehabilitation. She has a 1,500-square-foot facility in central Victoria where Parker, a male, and female Charlie will be able to embark on a much less harrowing life along with the Wonnacott's three dogs.
After being found near death in June by joggers in Piedmont, Okla., the severely emaciated and tick-infested 12-week-old littermates were turned away from 10 animal shelters before being brought to Kansas City on June 18. There, a local rescue shelter nursed them back to health via surgery and twice-weekly rehabilitation sessions.
"They have some big scars and they are a little nervous but they are both really good," Michele Wonnacott said from Kansas City.
"When we saw them, not only did it pull at our heart strings but we knew we could build their health back up so it just made sense. There is something special about them."
So special, that the pups and their miraculous tale have garnered international media attention and were even guests of honour at a parade Friday.
Vancouver Province
© CanWest News Service 2006
Tossed off a bridge, two Weimaraner pups find special friends in KC and around the world.
By MARIANNE SEREGI
The Kansas City Star
It looks as if the two puppies were thrown off a bridge.
Two joggers found them several months ago starving under that bridge in Oklahoma, their legs broken.
Ten animal shelters turned the Weimaraner puppies away — but not a rescue group in the Kansas City area.
On Thursday, the dogs — Charlie and Parker, nursed back to health — met their new owners. And the rescue group couldn’t be happier.
“They’re very outgoing now,” said Gail Orth-Aikmus, founder and director of Heartland Weimaraner Rescue in Pleasant Valley. “Weimaraners are pretty resilient and pretty forgiving of human unkindness.”
In June, Dennis McGee, 47, and his son Jesse McGee, 21, had just finished a three-mile run and were walking home in Piedmont, Okla., when they heard whimpering from beneath a bridge. After coaxing the dogs from their hiding place 15 feet below, the father and son led the limping pair to their house, a half-mile away.
“We couldn’t tell if they were just weak or if they were hurt,” Dennis McGee said.
The 12-week-old littermates, Charlie, a female, and Parker, a male, were flea bitten, tick infested and severely emaciated. Veterinarians believe that the dogs had been thrown off the bridge three weeks earlier.
The two dogs looked as if they had learned to take care of each other, Dennis McGee said. “They were lying on top of each other,” he said.
But they were also starving, said Kellie Pennington, McGee’s 19-year-old daughter. “The little girl was eating bugs off the porch,” she said.
Pennington wanted to keep the pups but had to give them up after a veterinarian said fixing a broken hind leg on each dog would cost a total of about $6,000. She tried several shelters and rescue centers, but all said they were at capacity.
When Heartland Weimaraner Rescue heard about the dogs, it sent volunteers to fetch them. The dogs arrived in Kansas City on June 18, four days after they were discovered.
At first, things didn’t get much better. The first local vet to see the dogs recommended amputation.
The rescue group sought more opinions and eventually hired Roger Becker of Independence Animal Hospital, who offered to fix the legs at a reduced rate.
Now, after more than two months of twice-weekly rehabilitation sessions, the dogs are doing well.
Charlie weighs 50 pounds and has full use of all of her legs. Parker weighs 60 pounds and only has slight stiffness in one knee.
“Both of those dogs function beautifully,” said Cheri Kollman, a certified canine rehab practitioner who covers the Northland and donated her services.
Donations for the dogs came from as far away as Australia and Portugal. Enough money was raised to pay for all the dogs’ medical needs.
Charlie and Parker’s new owners are from Victoria in British Columbia. That may seem like a long way off, but the rescue group chose Michael and Michele Wonnacott from a list of several applicants. Michele Wonnacott is a dog obedience trainer, and she works in her own 1,300-square-foot facility.
The injuries the dogs suffered were “something we thought we could help with,” Michael Wonnacott said Thursday in Kansas City.
The Wonnacotts have a Web site for the dogs at www.charlieandparker.com. Soon the site will have a blog that is regularly updated with photos and stories.
Because of Charlie and Parker, the Heartland Weimaraner Rescue has added Oklahoma to its coverage area. The group also works with dogs in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. In all, it has taken in 92 dogs so far this year.
“A lot of people are afraid to help animals that are hurt, not realizing there are groups to help them,” said Orth-Aikmus.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@ For more information about Weimaraners and rescue efforts, visit www.heartlandweimrescue.org .
I thought everyone might like to see how the story ended, we had several people from this board help save Charlie and Parker and give them a new life. The Canadian Press also picked up the story .
National B.C. couple adopt celebrity puppies abandoned in Oklahoma
Charlie was rescued after being thrown from a bridge in Oklahoma.
Photograph by : Photos from www.heartlandweimrescue.org
More pictures: < Prev | Next > CanWest News Service; Vancouver Province
Published: Sunday, October 01, 2006 Article tools
Printer friendly
Font: * * * * Celebrity pooches Charlie and Parker were happy as birds Saturday in anticipation of their trip to their new home in Victoria.
The two Weimaraner puppies, whose tale of surviving for three weeks after being thrown off an Oklahoma bridge touched the hearts of people worldwide, are being brought home today by new owners Michele and Michael Wonnacott.
Michele is a dog trainer specializing in emotional rehabilitation. She has a 1,500-square-foot facility in central Victoria where Parker, a male, and female Charlie will be able to embark on a much less harrowing life along with the Wonnacott's three dogs.
After being found near death in June by joggers in Piedmont, Okla., the severely emaciated and tick-infested 12-week-old littermates were turned away from 10 animal shelters before being brought to Kansas City on June 18. There, a local rescue shelter nursed them back to health via surgery and twice-weekly rehabilitation sessions.
"They have some big scars and they are a little nervous but they are both really good," Michele Wonnacott said from Kansas City.
"When we saw them, not only did it pull at our heart strings but we knew we could build their health back up so it just made sense. There is something special about them."
So special, that the pups and their miraculous tale have garnered international media attention and were even guests of honour at a parade Friday.
Vancouver Province
© CanWest News Service 2006
