Helen Woodward Animal Center first met Harper at the beginning of the year. The five year old Chihuahua blend came to us through a local partner who couldn’t properly take care of her due to a life threatening heart defect. Simply put, a valve in her heart that was supposed to close shortly after she was born, stayed open. Because of that, Harper’s heart had to work way harder than other dogs. This put a ton of strain on her cardiovascular system and would prematurely end her life from heart failure if left untreated.
The good news is, a revolutionary treatment existed to fix her issue. The bad news is it is incredibly expensive. The Center launched a fundraising campaign with the hopes to secure the money needed to pay for Harper’s treatment. However, thanks to Helen Woodward Animal Center’s generous donors, we were able to raise enough money to pay for the Chihuahua blend’s surgery.
At the end of April, Harper went in for her operation. Her surgical team gave her anesthesia and spent the next several hours working on her groundbreaking treatment. By the end of the day, Harper had a fully functioning heart! She spent the month of May recovering in the comfy confines of foster care where she absolutely thrived. In the middle of June she had her recheck with our medical staff who cleared her to be made available for adoption.
That night, Harper made her first public debut at the Center’s 37th Annual Spring Fling gala where she was a hit with the guests. Two guests in particular absolutely fell in love with the Chihuahua blend’s spunky personality. They spent the following week making sure they could actually add another furry friend to their home. By Friday, the family realized they needed Harper in their life.
They brought their resident dog, Copper, to meet Harper that afternoon. The two dogs got along swimmingly, and the family took her home that day. Harper has been living there happily ever after.
