We first saw Charlie on Petfinder.com and fell in love. I went to the shelter to meet him and walking down the rows of barking dogs I see this handsome guy sitting there wagging his tail not making a peep. We adopted him and took him home but the story doesn't end there. A few days later we see that he is limping so to the vet we go. He thinks Charlie has hip displaycia, Charlie is estimated to be 2 years old. He gives us meds and says it should help. A month later he still has a limp and its getting worse, this time the vet takes x-rays. What we saw on those x-rays still makes me sick and angry, his hip is completely dislocated and just in his lower body there are 40+ metal balls(birdshot) and a few pellets. The doc says it wouldn't be worth putting him through the pain to take them all out and none of them were putting him in danger. We were referred to a specialist for the hip who told us that basically our only option to give him a normal life was a total hip replacement. We knew what we had to do and through donations and contributions from our wedding guests we now have enough money to give our baby a new hip. Charlie is the most amazing dog and even with the cruelty we know he must have endured, he is incredibly loving and kind. We are so lucky to have gotten him out of that shelter, he has completely changed our lives.

Lesley Spade
Jacksonville, NC