Stories of Courage

At our recent all-employee meeting, we heard several presentations on the different activities taking place at VPI. One presentation that stood out came from our Employee Contribution Committee. This committee is a five-person panel formed in 2010 for the purpose of selecting local animal-related charities for VPI to donate money to throughout the year. Donations are often given to help pay medical bills for rescued and/or abused animals.

These pets’ stories all had tragic beginnings, and seeing the “before” photos was heart-wrenching. But being able to see how far some of the animals had come was heart-warming and something I thought our readers would enjoy—especially during the holidays when many people are donating to charities.

The first story is about Courage—a 3-year-old German shepherd that was rescued last April. Courage was on death’s door after being severely neglected and starved by his owner. The shepherd weighed only 37 pounds and was eating dirt just to survive.

He was taken by a good Samaritan to an emergency animal hospital that then contacted the German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County. After weeks of treatment for malnutrition Courage started to show signs of improvement.

Today Courage is about as good-looking a German shepherd as you could ever hope to see. He is up to 90 pounds, has a loving owner, and has even graduated from puppy school.

Courage’s will to live and the outpouring of community support is truly an inspiring story.

A second story involved Phoenix, a German shepherd mix that was found wandering the streets of Southern California this summer with his ears cut off. It was determined that he was used as a “bait dog” to train dogs for illegal fighting.

Phoenix was scheduled to be put down but through the efforts of volunteers, Phoenix was rescued by the Coastal German Shepherd Rescue and given medical treatment for ear canal infections, skin infections, flea dermatitis, emaciation, and arthritis.

Phoenix’s story touched many people in Southern California, sparked public outrage over dog fighting, and received local news coverage. He recovered quickly from his wounds and despite being exposed to so much violence, he’s shown himself to be a very gentle and loving dog. In September, Phoenix was adopted by a couple from North Hollywood.

These are just two of many stories of charity that our Employee Contribution Committee shared with us. In future posts, I will write more about the stories of the animals, organizations, and causes the committee donates to.