Hi, my name is Ninja. I was saved by the love of a little girl named Grace and her family who never gave up on me.
Mr. Brown
Hi, my name is Mr. Brown, and boy do I have a story to tell. It started out as a beautiful sunny day – I was having fun fishing with my family at the creek-when out of nowhere a storm popped up. Lightening crashed and I bolted back to the truck to hide. Another crash of thunder scared me so bad that I tried to jump through the window even though it was rolled up. I bounced off and slammed to the ground. That’s how I hurt my leg. I tried to be brave, but I admit I cried a little. We didn’t realize how bad I was hurt until the next morning when my leg swelled up twice its normal size and turned purple and black! My mama has the kindest heart. She’s always helping other people, but she was having a rough time and didn’t have the money to take me to the vet. That’s when she found out about the nice folks at Caring Hearts and Fresh Start. They offered to pay my vet bill so I could get better! Next, mama rushed me to the vet, and the X-Ray showed I had a spiral fracture – not an easy thing to fix. Rather than risk a complicated surgery, she made the tough decision to have my leg amputated instead. While I was under anesthesia, I would get neutered too. The last thing mama needed was more dogs because of me. That’s when they discovered one of my boy parts hadn’t descended and was wrapped around my intestines! The vet said I would have been in real trouble if they hadn’t found that when they did. So in the end, hurting my leg was really a blessing in disguise and maybe even saved my life. Mama says she doesn’t know what she would have done without the nice folks at Caring Hearts and Fresh Start. I just know I feel so much better and get to spend a healthy, happy life with the people I love most.
Flower Flower, (aka “Wildflower”), has spent the last three months fighting for her life from injuries sustained being hit by a car. Just a few weeks prior, she and her sibling were dumped in Laurie, Missouri and left to fend for themselves – they were only kittens at the time.
Although it was late at night, we are so thankful a Good Samaritan saw the accident and called Caring Hearts. Flower’s sibling was scooped up with Flower, and off they all went to Lake Pet Hospital in Eldon. X-rays revealed a broken pelvis, and Flower sustained other internal injuries from the accident as well.
Flower has fought her way through a broken pelvis, numerous laser treatments, pneumonia, bladder surgery, and procedures to repair a large wound from torn stitches after her surgery. Although Caring Hearts covered the veterinary expenses, Flower’s recovery would not have been possible without the good folks at Lake Pet Hospital and Flower’s extra special guardian angel, Anne Bishop, who stayed by her side every step of the way. We cannot thank Anne enough for her compassion and dedication to Flower’s full recovery, and for never giving up on her.
In the meantime, the Good Samaritan (that originally contacted us the night of Flower’s accident) welcomed Flower’s sibling into her home, where she has been thriving ever since. Thankfully, this Good Samaritan has opened her heart and home to Flower as well, and cannot wait to reunite the siblings.
Although the journey was long, we are so thankful to everyone involved in Flower’s rescue, care and recovery. It won’t be long now before Flower is playing with her sister again in her “happily ever after” forever home.
Peanut Peanut was only a year old when he was rescued by a Good Samaritan. The compassionate soul welcomed Peanut into her home even though she knew there was 'something wrong with him'. After a visit to the vet, Peanut's mom learned what was wrong - Peanut was born with a birth defect that had grossly displaced his 'boy parts'. The older he got, the more painful and life threatening his condition. She was given the shocking news that Peanut would need complicated, reconstructive surgery to live. In fact, the vet didn't expect him to survive more than a week without it. Caring Hearts was thankful to play a role in getting Peanut the help he needed, but we didn't do it alone. Blue Moon stepped up to help, and words cannot express our gratitude for the lifesaving reconstructive surgery performed by the amazing and talented vets at Linn Creek.
Dodge Dodge escaped his fenced in yard and was struck by a car. He suffered a fractured face and nerve damage to his front leg. Caring Hearts rushed him to the vet where he received emergency treatment while his owner was being notified of the accident. The next day, Dodge had surgery to repair his fractured face, and was able to go back home to recuperate. We are hopeful Dodge will regain full use of his front leg and live a long, happy life.
Sassy Sassy was the very first dog helped by Caring Hearts. This past November, Sassy was hit by a car, resulting in a badly broken leg. A visit to the veterinarian confirmed that surgery was needed to repair her broken leg. Sassy was in trouble - if she couldn’t find a way to get the surgery, she would be permanently crippled and live in excruciating pain, or be euthanized to end her suffering. Faced with the unthinkable, Sassy’s owner reached out for help. Thanks to generous donations, Caring Hearts was able to help cover the cost of the surgery which involved pins and a plate to repair Sassy’s leg. Sassy’s owner shared that Sassy is ‘the love of her life’ and ‘couldn’t imagine life without her’. We are so honored that we were able to play a role in saving this precious life.
Chip
A message to Caring Hearts from Chip's owner: "A huge thanks to Caring Hearts for a generous donation to help towards my puppy's medical expenses! Chip had an accident where he had many glass abrasions and needed stitches and removal of the glass. Now he is on the road to recovery to his silly self! So very grateful for this organization!"
Budda
A message to Caring Hearts from Budda's owner: "This is Budda! Thank you so much Caring Hearts for helping us get the rest of his meds so we can get him all better it truly means everything to us! Your the best."
Dottie
A message to Caring Hearts from Dottie's owner: "This is Dottie she is my baby girl. I'm so thankful to this group of people. Thanks to them she is getting the surgery she needs today. It will be different have a 3 legged dog but so worth it to have her back at home with her family."
Finley
Meet Finley! How precious is this little one! His mom has been so gracious in sending us pictures and keeping us updated on his progress. We are so happy to be able to tell you that he is thriving and doing so much better now! Thank you for allowing us to share his story and thank you to everyone in our community for supporting us! Finley's story from his Mom: Finley was an 8 week old pitbull puppy. We had only just adopted him on Saturday and he was healthy and doing well. On Sunday night he got real sick but we decided to wait it out to see how he felt in the morning. By morning he wouldn't eat or drink anything and just wanted to sleep. I took him to the Lake of the Ozarks Animal Hospital to see what was wrong. They tested him for parvo and it came back positive. Parvo is a disease spread among dogs and puppies and can be particularly deadly to puppies. I was devastated not knowing what was going to happen, we had barely had him for 2 days and now he's sick. I was told treatment for parvo ranges $300-$1000 (for hospital stay). I didn't have that money in my account. I was told to call Blue Moon and Caring Hearts. I called crying because I didn't know that these people existed more than 5 seconds ago and I was asking them to help save my baby's life. Caring Hearts answered and helped me take care of the bill that day. They gave my puppy a fighting chance. My family will never forget that act of kindness and we will forever be grateful. Thank you.