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On March 22, 2008 I said goodbye to Thunder, my black lab of 15yrs. It left a huge hole in my heart.
December 25th, 2009 I am on my way to work in my patrol vehicle when I observe a vehicle stopped on the freeway by a bridge. An amazing young woman had stopped because she thought she saw an animal in distress. She was was right. It was a black lab. He looked like Thunder.
When he was found in the ditch he had spent the night after being hit. There was a small blood trail where he had dragged himself about 4 or 5 feet. He had been there long enough that his body heat had melted the 3 inches of snow and ice under him and he was now in a puddle of cold water.
He was shivering and in distress … BUT did not whimper, whine, bark or bite despite at least 7 fractures to his one rear leg and soft tissue damage to both rear knees.
I had him transported to the local pet emergency and the humane society put a plea out for the owner. He came forward after 4 days but gave up the the dog (he was a not so nice person). The plea galvanized the city and donations poured in to help the dog, now named Rupert (my friend named him).
Rupert went through at least 7 surgeries and recovered to about 70% A local vet then donated months of rehab. We now swim, run..act like idiots!! Oh, an odd but fantastic twist. Looks and acts like my Thunder. A google search of “Rupert the black lab” will reveal the whole journey on the Kingston Humane Society site.