Sometimes you have to crawl before you walk….
One of our amazing Pilots, Pete Tobin, had a very unique passenger who has since brought smiles to so many faces, including Pete’s! Here is the story of Pumpkin, aka “Cranberry” in pilot Pete’s own words:
Dear All:
Yes, it’s wrong to toot your own horn. But, you’ll wanna read this one to the end. It really is worth it.
As most of you remember, there was an emergency Pilots N Paws email on Sunday last December telling about a 12 week old English Bulldog named Pumpkin who was born with such severely deformed front legs that she was going to be put to sleep in Louisville, Kentucky then next Monday morning. She had less than 24 hours to live unless someone could get her back here to Chicago where the was a Vet who was willing to perform the surgery she needed for free.
Well, I check the weather and it just wasn’t a good day for flying. If this was a Wings of Mercy run, (flying humans) I would have told them to wait a day or two. This wasn’t. This was a Pilots N Paws run. And I hardly ever hear of a human patient being put to sleep because a pilot won’t come and get them.
Aviation & dogs go together like chocolate & peanut butter. And pretty much ever pilot I know operates under an unwritten rule of no dog left behind policy.
I launched to retrieve Pumpkin. Yes, I iced up. Yes, it was scary.
This is Pumpkin.”
Pete meets "Pumpkin/Cranberry"
This is how deformed her little legs were.....
Pete and Pumpkin, she's in good hands!
This is video of how Pumpkin gets around:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr2JyCuWJ60&feature=related
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vIyq9fRae4&feature=related
The good news is that the Doctors at Iowa State University felt that they could save her legs as a teaching lesson in their school of Veterinary Medicine.
X-rays show the vets how they can help her!
"Cranberry after her surgery, her legs are straight!"
Well, the day after her surgery, I flew Cranberry’s foster mom to Ames so that Cranberry could wake up surrounded by people who love her. To be honest, it was a waste of a trip ‘cause pretty much everyone in the whole hospital had already fallen in love with Cranberry and I lost count of how many people stopped in to wish her well.
Pete visits with "Cranberry" after her surgery....
BUT!!! For the big happy ending finish! Here’s video of Cranberry taken last night and this is how good she’s doing now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUKMy5vZQ8s&feature=player_embedded
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From Chicago English Bulldog Rescue:
I just wanted to send a huge thank you to Pete & Karen (Johnson) Tobin for helping Chicago English Bulldog Rescue transport at 14 week old bully puppy named Cranberry from Louisville to Chicago on Sunday. We couldn’t have been more appreciative and they truly gave this little pup a 2nd chance at a quality life.
She was dropped as a small puppy and both of her front legs are now seriously deformed so she can not walk on the front, but rather scoots. Because they could get her to us, we are able to get her to an orthopedic specialist to give her a shot at walking.
THANK YOU PILOTS N PAWS & KAREN AND PETE!
Sincerely,
Molly Marino
Chicago English Bulldog Rescue
ebullymatch.com
