Charlie Matters

Charlie

The day Charlie was brought to the Franklin County Animal Shelter might have been both the worst and best day of his life.

He arrived there with someone who said he had been hit by a car. His back leg was retracted, and he could not walk at all. He kind of rolled instead. A Franklin County Humane Society volunteer happened to be there at the time and said she would take Charlie with her to the Rocky Mount Pet Clinic where it was determined that the injury was actually an old one. His nails were so long and curled that they were almost embedded in the pads of his paws, compounding the difficulty he had walking.

The old injury could not be repaired in a way that would allow him to be without pain and to walk normally. So Dr. Eric Lorens removed the leg, and there began Charlie's journey to healing.

Shan Sirry volunteered to foster him during his recovery, and Charlie could not have hoped for a more loving, nurturing foster home. Shan took him in as her own, shuttled him to vet appointments and therapy sessions to help him adjust to his new life as a dog with three legs instead of four. And just gave him truckloads of love. Which was all he'd ever really wanted anyway.

Today, Charlie starts the next phase of his new life. Shan and her mother are driving him to New Jersey. If all goes well, he will join his new family where he'll receive the kind of love and care he deserves.

Dogs like Charlie leave permanent paw prints on our hearts. Watching him heal and show joy for even the little things, a car ride, a cookie, a new toy, well, you see, that's what it's all about. Every volunteer involved in his journey from that shelter to the home he's travelling to today knows they have done something meaningful, something that matters.

Because Charlie matters.

Charlie matters.