Hi there.
My sister found your website only hours after our beloved Charlie lost his front right leg under a train.

The accident occurred at 8am on February 20th.

Charlie chased a neighbour's cat through their broken fence out to the railway line. Once he was on the cutting Charlie was delirious with joy and impossible for me to get hold of. I managed to entice him away from the track up onto the embankment but when the first city bound train came past it was too irresistible for him to ignore.

My first thought was to carry him up the embankment then keep him still on the nearest nature strip. A schoolboy nearby witnessed all the drama including my frantic efforts to draw Charlie away from the tracks then my absolute confusion and shock in what to do next.

I feared that the injuries were far worse than a severed leg so I believed my dog was dead or dying.

The boy didn't hesitate to call Emergency help with his cell phone.
He repeatedly called until a police divisional van arrived at the scene.
The young lad was crying but refused to leave us until transport arrived.

Charlie began to blink now and his breathing was less shallow.
We tried to cover the wound with the boy's school jumper that he kindly volunteered but Charlie yelped at this attempt. The officers and I decided that I climb backwards into the back of the van with Charlie lying on top of me. The ride had plenty of bumps but we got to the vet surgery in under ten minutes.

Charlie is expected to make a full recovery.

I wanted the boy's help to be acknowledged so together with my wife composed a letter to his school in appreciation of his clear thinking and courage in such a crisis.

The school principal promptly replied and was most gratified to hear of the heroic exploits of one of their students. They revealed that the boy shared the same name as our Charlie, so we're proud that their Charlie Moore helped save the life of our Charlie.

Charlie was born on January 8 (Elvis P.) 2006 in Sydney Australia.
He is a chocolate brown Labradoodle.

Click HERE to read the story featured in the Tuesday March 6 local paper which includes a photo shoot of the two Charlies reunited.
I will be in touch again soon.

Yours Sincerely,
David Clerehan
Tuesday February 27, 2007

Hello Cassie!
My name is Sabrina.
I am a Great Dane, and I am missing my left front leg.
I came from a puppy mill, where the owners were very cruel.
They hit me with a baseball bat which shattered my shoulder
and killed the nerves going to my leg.
Then they bred me after I was injured when I was only 9 months old.
I was too little to have my babies, and had to have an emergency C-Section and spay,
and then my owners didn't want me anymore.

They took me to the pound, which was the best thing for me!

The pound called the local Great Dane rescue, who immediately came to get me.
They took me to a really nice lady's house,
where I got a bath for the first time ever, and lots of love and food.
I was really scared of the lady's husband,
but once he took off his hat I felt a little better.
I was at the nice lady's house for two days until my new mom came to get me.

Lindsey is my mom, although at the time I first came to live with her,
I was supposed to be a foster dog!

She loved me too much, and decided to keep me - I'm really glad she did.

I was at Mom's house for three days until her rescue raised the money to get my dead leg amputated.

During that time, I had a hard time keeping up with my new brother, Thunder the Wonder Dog. He's not all that wonderful, mom named him that because he's such a scaredy-cat. He's a really big Great Dane, well over 200 pounds,
but I wasn't scared of him because he's really nice.
The only time I would fall down was when I went down the step to get outside (my bad leg would sometimes get caught), or when I was trying to run with Thunder in the backyard.

When I went to the vet to get my leg amputated, he told Mom that I might not want to walk around very much right after surgery.

He thought it would take a few days for me to get comfortable using only three legs. Of course, since I hadn't been using that stupid ol' leg anyway, I stood up as soon as I woke up from the surgery and walked around the clinic, dragging my I.V. stand after me!

It was fun until the stand fell over and made a loud noise.
It kind of scared me until a nice vet tech came in to see what was the sound was. She told me that it was okay, and how proud she was of me for walking so soon. I told her it was no big deal, but I don't think she understood.

Mom came to see me every day until I could go home.
They expected me to stay at the vet's office for at least a week,
but I got to go home in just three days!

Mom says I'm a trooper.
I felt so much better after my surgery - no more falling on the step!
After about a week of being home, I could keep up with Thunder,
and after a month he could barely keep up with me.
Now I run circles around him, the big lazy thing!
It took me a long time to really get comfortable with strangers.
Men were really scary, especially when they were wearing ball caps.
Mom told people to not wear hats around me, and that helped.
I'm much better now, and I love everyone!
Mom tells people that if our house was broken into,
I would tell the robbers "If you pet me, I'll show you where the good china is!"
She's probably right.

I really miss not having my babies.
I wish I could have some more, but I've been spayed.
Mom says it's a good thing, but every time I see a little dog, puppy, or kitten,
I like to pretend it's my baby.
One time, I even tried to get Mom's friend's two-year-old to nurse!
Mom and Breann thought it was really funny, but Audrey wouldn't cooperate with me.
I have two half-brothers who are cats, and one of them (Smokey) will let me groom him.
Henery doesn't really like me, though, but Mom says it's because he's old and grumpy.
I guess 14 is old for a cat!

I'm really glad my mom adopted me.
She gives me lots of love and attention,
and lets me sleep in the bed with her at night.
I always have enough food,
and no one tries to hurt me anymore, even when I'm bad.

Mom tells me that no one will ever hit me again,
but for a long time I didn't believe her.
Now though, I do.
I've been here for four years,
and nothing bad has ever happened to any of the animals who live here.

Well, there was that one time that Thunder ate a bath towel
and had to have emergency surgery, but that was his own fault!

Well, I guess that's it.
Thank you, Cassie, for letting me tell you my story.

Sincerely,
Sabrina
(Lindsey Askins)
Sunday March 4, 2007