The Humane Society of the Pike’s Peak Region contacted us about Arthur, a big border collie mix, in May 2021. He’d been dumped there by his family who said they were moving East and wouldn’t be taking him. Traumatized, he pancaked himself to the floor for three days. Wouldn’t get up to eat or drink. Wouldn’t get up to relieve himself. Just lay in his own messes, terrified. They gave him meds to try to decrease his anxiety. Nothing worked. So they called us even knowing that at age 9 he was younger than the dogs we normally take in (10 is our usual cutoff).
He moved into The Hut and quickly proved himself to be a goofy, sweet-natured boy. He had a giant pink mass blooming from his lower jaw that had displaced four teeth and it bled whenever he ate. It wasn’t cancerous but it was invasive. We opted to remove the portion of his jaw where the tendrils from the mass were spreading. He bounced back quickly, didn’t seem at all concerned about what was now a lopsided smile, and went about the business of living life.
Three months later we learned that his gimpy rear legs weren’t arthritis or old injuries, they were torn ACLs. So both legs got fixed.
After he had been with us through three surgeries and 18 months and, one of our volunteers asked to adopt him. And now he goes on hikes nearly every afternoon, grooms his cat family members every day, and smiles his crooked smile knowing that all his dreams came true.
