It was during a blinding blizzard in Tulsa, Oklahoma, about the end of 2000. On the Broken Arrow Expressway - a heavily
traveled, fast paced expressway -
traffic was totally stopped. A black Labrador had gotten on to the
expressway and was being pursued by nine people. Visibility was near
zero. Jumper (later known as Jack,
and now Max) panicked and leaped over the
railing at the highest elevation of the expressway overpass, landing on
the ice and pavement below. He was knocked unconscious. A man and his
son saw this, stopped and wrapped him in a blanket, and took him to
their vet. This man paid for the X-rays and boarding at this time.
The X-rays showed that the dog needed surgery - his "wrist" (carpal
joint) ligaments were badly damaged from his fall, diagnosis was right
carpal joint arthrodosis with prognosis for function with surgery normal
to near normal, with pain resolved with fusion and time. A vet student
fostered the dog during this period, so the ‘best' of post operative
care was had.
This was a very sweet, very adoptable young dog, not to mention an
extremely lucky that his injuries were not more severe than they
were considering the tremendous fall he took. He was fostered during his
rehab by a member of Lab Rescue OK, and later adopted by a member of the
Animal Rescue Foundation. He has been renamed Max, is dearly loved, and
was recently featured on the cover of their publication. Max's new
family say "We are the new owners of Max (Jumping Jack). He is doing
wonderfully in our family which consists of twin eight year olds and a
six year old boy. He loves the kids and is always willing to play ball
with them. We are in the process of teaching him the difference between
his tennis ball and the soccer ball. We use the command "leave it" and
MOST of the time he chooses to. We want to thank your organization for
contributing to Max's surgery. He has recovered very well. He
occasionally limps if he is doing too much running. We do take him
swimming in a pond that is in our neighborhood. He LOVES the water..."
and further they write: "We are so lucky there are organizations like
yours and lab rescue around to help these wonderful dogs. Thanks again
for helping Max."
Labrador Life Line is proud to have been able to play a role in this success story. Thank you all for your most generous support of LLL. Without you, we could not have done this!