Choco is a 2-month-old, black & tan puppy who arrived at the Aiken County Animal Shelter on Sept. 3 with a life-threatening birth defect. His only chance for survival was expensive, experimental surgery that might not even work. This poor baby needed an adopter willing and able to get him the needed surgery and provide him with a loving home.
FOTAS immediately put the word out, shared Choco’s photo and story via social media, and got him into the arms of foster volunteer Vivian Kram. She took loving care of the pup and gave him the nurturing he needed while FOTAS and the shelter staff worked to find him a permanent home.
Enter Jenna Lubeck and her boyfriend Sam, who had just moved to Aiken from Chicago with four children and 21 horses. They were planning to buy a purebred dog but read a Facebook post about Choco written and shared by Martha Anne Tudor. The family was so moved by the pup’s dilemma, Jenna and her youngest child drove to the shelter to meet the pup.
“When we met Choco, my eight-year-old son looked up at me and said, ‘We have to adopt this puppy! I’ll pitch in my allowance for his surgery.’”
The family adopted the pup, renamed him Dante, and provided his expensive surgery. Before the operation, Jenna and Sam had to prepare the kids for the possibility their new dog might not survive. But Jenna said the children understood and vowed to make Dante’s two weeks before the surgery “the best two weeks possible.” They spent all their free time playing and cuddling with their new family member.
Thankfully, the surgery was a success and Dante made a full recovery.
Just five months later, Jenna saw another post on Facebook. This one featured a chocolate and white, 6-year-old stray dog who was found eating garbage at a trash dump. This skeletal 6-year-old Doberman mix with broken teeth and a sweet face reminded her so much of Dante, she drove to the County Shelter with him to meet her.
The meet and greet between Dante and the new dog, Maggie, did not go well. Maggie was stressed, scared, and mouthy. But since neither dog was being aggressive, the staff and Jenna thought Maggie would do better away from the shelter. Turns out, they were right. On the way home from the shelter, the two dogs cuddled together and slept in the back seat of Jenna’s car.
“Maggie just had to get out of that high stress environment,” Jenna said. “She and Dante became best friends. We can hardly separate these two now.”
Against all odds, Maggie and Dante have beautiful lives in a home where they are loved. “I’m so glad we adopted instead of buying,” Jenna said. “I think I’m going to only adopt from now on.”
“I don’t look at these dogs as having issues,” she added. “I think most of the time they’re just misunderstood. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time and didn’t get the love or care they needed because their owners didn’t know better or didn’t care enough. It kind of breaks your heart, you know?”
Their lives are in our hands.
— By Bob Gordon, FOTAS Communications Director
