Charlotte’s Happy Tail
July 17th, 2019
The moment Virginia met Charlotte, “a little lab whose muzzle is dabbled with light gray,” she knew that despite having a full house of her own pets and other foster dogs, she would take Charlotte in and help her get healthy.
A dedicated volunteer and foster mom, Virginia answered the call when her local rescue took in an older Labrador who had been abandoned on the side of the road in the hot weather without any food or water. Sweet Charlotte had a painful, 5-lb. tumor on her stomach that had been neglected for years.
Virginia couldn’t bear to see her suffering – every time Charlotte walked, the tumor would drag on the ground and become ulcerated, never able to properly heal. “When a person values animal lives, to me it means ALL lives, no matter their medical condition.”
Ready for the challenge, she rearranged her home and her life to accommodate Charlotte, but she needed help paying for Charlotte’s urgent veterinary care. Thanks to the generosity of more than a hundred RedRover supporters, we were able to provide Virginia with a RedRover Relief Urgent Care grant to fund the entire cost of surgery to remove Charlotte’s massive tumor.
Virginia was so grateful for the compassion and support, and she sent us an update on Charlotte right away:
“Because of generous RedRover allies, Charlotte walks a little lighter this evening. Tonight I sat outside with her in the shade and watched her focus on birds flitting through the trees, dragonflies buzzing around her, and alerting to the whine of a fire truck in the distance. She wasn’t shifting her leg to accommodate the tumor, she wasn’t cleaning the tumor after dragging it through the grass; finally, Charlotte was just being a regular dog.”
Before the surgery, Charlotte wasn’t feeling well enough to play with toys – but now, she loves toys and plays with them all of the time! “It’s rewarding to see her blossom. That’s what it’s all about – helping one animal at a time.”
No longer living with pain and discomfort, this “regular dog” will bring to her forever home the love and devotion of Virginia and of supporters like you, who believe that pets are family and they deserve every chance for a happy, healthy life.
“Charlotte is feeling well – she has a ‘little dance’ that she does when I appear at the door to take her outside. Today the heat wave finally broke, and as it drizzled, Charlotte & I sat under a tree and watched the rain drops make circles in the pool. She’s eating well and almost done with her medications. Stitches come out on the 24th!”
