Chocolate, the brown dog with two broken front legs, won't suffer from a lack of help anymore.
After enduring likely abandonment, being hit by a car last summer and six ensuing months of neglect, the 18-month-old Chesapeake Bay retriever got veterinary attention and support from the community Tuesday.
Chocolate spent the night at Meadow Hills Veterinary Center in Kennewick after getting X-rays and vaccinations Tuesday. The clinic is awaiting the opinion of a veterinary orthopedist at Washington State University in Pullman to find out if any surgery could help the dog at this point.
"I can't stop thinking how awesome people are. There's been an outpouring of generosity. ... Everybody wanting to give," said Sonia Ayala, who took pity on Chocolate and picked him up from a field north of Pasco last month even though she didn't have the resources to care for him or get him veterinary care.
She realized she and Chocolate were in an even greater jam when she found no shelter or pound that would receive him.
But after the Herald reported the predicament Tuesday, a flood of calls came in from around the Mid-Columbia and as far away as New York, Maine, Virginia and California.
Ayala received the first calls at 6 a.m., she said. Within a few hours, she had filled up three pages of letter-size paper with names and numbers of people wanting to help. That was before her phone gave out.
She ended up going with an offer she received at 7 a.m. from Meadow Hills Veterinary Clinic, which called her and said one of its clients would pay for an exam if she could bring Chocolate in. That client, Tom Currie, 57, of Kennewick, paid to have Chocolate sedated and X-rayed, while the clinic paid to have him vaccinated and dewormed.
"My wife and I pretty much are both dog wimps. We're always moved by these kind of stories," Currie said.
The X-rays revealed the fractures already conspicuous in Chocolate's limp. His left elbow is dislocated, and the radius and ulna bones in his right front leg are broken. Calcium deposits have hardened both separations. A pellet shot also was found lodged in the base of his neck.
Dr. Janine Swailes, the veterinarian handling Chocolate's case, said she still couldn't rule out euthanasia as his best option.
"It depends on what the orthopedic surgeon tells us," Swailes said. "I can't rule that out completely. We don't want to think about that."
A better outcome would be for him to lose one of his front legs but retain the other and get by as a three-legged dog, she said.
Meadow Hills set up an account at the clinic to receive donations to help cover his further recovery costs. To make a contribution, stop by the clinic at 8802 W. Gage Blvd. in Kennewick or call 783-0399. Over the next few days, the clinic will help Ayala determine whom the dog could go home with. The clinic plans to provide updates on Chocolate's condition on its website at www.mhvc.net.
In spite of what he has gone through, Chocolate continues to exhibit an enthusiasm for life. At the clinic, he clung to the spongy yellow ball that has been his companion throughout his ordeal. Even from his wire cage, he seemed to smile at the vets and assistants walking by. And when he was let out to stretch his good legs -- and nurse his lame ones -- he garnered pats on his coat and affectionate aw's from the clinic's staff.
"He is the nicest dog. I was excited to meet him," said Robin Powers, a job-shadowing student from Tri-Tech Skills Center.
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