Rescued dog spreads love to sick children - Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

By Ben Watson - bio | email

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - A local dog who was adopted after nearly dying is now spreading love to sick children.

Ginger Harper, who works with the Trails of Hope pet rescue organization, said her group recently rescued Charlie, a dog that was nearly euthanized because he was suffering from a severe case of heartworm. 

Charlie got a break when Trails of Hope volunteered to treat the problem.

"It was just constant rounds of antibiotics," she said.

The medicine helped, and Charlie got better. Days later, he was spotted by two University of Tennessee grad students looking to adopt a dog and train it to do therapy work with children at St. Jude.

Nurse Tiffany Schroder said Charlie's calm and pleasant demeanor made him a perfect choice for the kind of therapy dog needed to work with sick children.

"He was very mellow the whole time," she said. "All he wanted was loving, and he didn't get agitated with anything that was going on."

Rescue workers call Charlie's sudden change of fate a miracle.

"He went from almost dying," Harper said. "Now he's going to be helping children that are actually facing that, so its really nice. It's good he's got a purpose in life."

Charlie still has to go through rounds of training to work as a therapy dog. His new owners say he already has the personality to do a good job - all he needs now is the training.

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