This is a story of “Hope”

The bad economy has affected almost everyone I know and often the situation seems overwhelming and hopeless, but there is always hope! I would like to share one story of hope that came from a seemingly hopeless situation.

On January 1st, 2011, I was called by 911 and told that some workers had found an injured dog at the Gold Hill transfer complex. As far as I know, since 1991 Asheboro Animal Hospital has been the only animal hospital to take in injured stray animals. When an Asheboro Police officer brought her to me at the hospital, I saw that she had a large wound on her back, her eyes were matted and she was emaciated, just skin and bones. She looked so pitiful that my first thought was to put her to sleep so she would not have to suffer any more, but then God told me to give her a chance, so I gave her some antibiotics and pain medication and put her in a cage with some food and water which she gladly accepted.

As I thought about it, she reminded me of what the current economy has done to many of us. A large number of people I talk to these days are depressed or scared, some sick or injured and many seemingly without hope! So I decided, this time, to try and invest in this little stray dog and fix her up and give her a chance. We clipped her, cleaned her up, repaired her wound and spayed her. We also sent off bloodwork and that came back relatively normal. Over the next few days, the staff worked with her to get her to trust them. She was cage shy and snapped when you reach for her in a cage but would jump in your lap out of the cage. She also was not eating as much as we would have liked her to, so one of my staff volunteered to take her home and work with her to try and socialize her better.

She still needs some work but she is a new dog now! She has energy and when she came back to Asheboro Animal Hospital, she barked a lot and ran around the clinic when she was let out of her cage, whereas she barely walked at all the first few days! She is basically house broken and likes to be around people so I have to believe she was someone’s pet at one point in time. What happened only she knows. There may be someone out there wondering what happened to their little lost dog. She could have been hit by a car and wandered off disoriented or possibly even abandoned as many pets are today due to the economy and the owner’s inability to care for them anymore. Whatever the case may be, she now has a new loving home with the staff member that originally took her home with absolutely no intension of keeping her but fell in love with her! She named her “Hope” because she has found a new life and is an example of the hope that we all can have when things are at their worst. Just trust in Jesus Christ and He will take care of you. He takes care of me and He took care of Hope when she had no hope.

John M. Canipe, DVM

Owner: Asheboro Animal Hospital