Chi Chi

The story starts on the 15th January 2016. The dog was a Golden Retriever, which, on examination, was estimated to be about 2 years of age, but there wasn’t anything golden about her life. Given where she was discovered, it is almost certain that she had been prepared for the dog meat trade.

She had been thrown into a dumpster (wheelie bin) behind a meat market in South Korea, inside a plastic bag with her legs tightly bound with wire. The wire was so tight that circulation to her paws was restricted, and her legs were literally rotting away. Not far from death, she was found by local volunteers, and they were amazed to find that the dog, despite being in unimaginable pain, showed no animosity and even pushed her head forward in the hope of being stroked. She was then taken on a 5-hour drive into Seoul to a veterinary surgeon who decided that in order to save her life, he would have to amputate all four legs. The only alternative was euthanasia. The dog was kept at the clinic for 2 months while she recovered from the surgical procedure and proved to be a huge hit with the vets and staff as she scooted around the building on her stumps. She was even able to walk on her stumps when they were bandaged, and her rescuers made numerous visits to play with the dog now given the name Chi Chi.

A new kind of stride

Nabiya Irion Hope Project took responsibility for Chi Chi’s case whilst she remained in Korea, and the Beagle Freedom Project arranged her transfer to America.

Chi Chi was adopted by Elizabeth and Richard Howell and happily integrated into the household with their other rescue dogs, Maggie, Harry and Kipper in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. She arrived with her only possession, a pink stuffed toy. I doubt that Elizabeth and Richard had any real idea what they were letting themselves in to. Just getting Chi Chi out of bed, fitting her legs, and preparing her to go outside to use the toilet was a daily ritual.

Creating prosthetic legs was a huge problem as all four legs had been amputated at different heights, thus giving the experts an even bigger headache. Her prostheses were designed by Derek Campara of Animal Ortho Care, who is considered to be a leading authority in this quite exclusive field. Animal Ortho Care fashions artificial limbs for all animals regardless of size or shape.

Chi Chi only wore her prosthetic limbs during the day, and they were removed at night, giving her stumps time to recover, just like humans. In fact, if Chi Chi had a busy day, her legs were removed during the day to ensure that there would be no soreness. Having recovered from surgery and enjoying life, it was time to head for new adventures, and the obvious one was to be a therapy dog.

Leading by example

Chi Chi easily qualified, and with her natural cheery disposition, she was in great demand. A particular venue was veterans hospitals, where military personnel who had suffered amputations were delighted to be introduced to a dog that was missing her legs, and seeing how she showed no signs of being hindered by her artificial limbs, wounded soldiers were themselves inspired to achieve greater improvement for themselves. Those suffering that hideous affliction, Alzheimer’s, received visits, as did rehabilitation facilities, schools and senior citizen homes.

At the 2018 Heroic Dog Awards in Beverly Hills, Chi Chi was chosen as America’s Hero Dog, Therapy Dog category.

Despite Chi Chi making amazing progress in her life, she had an issue that continued to plague her; she was terrified of ‘thunder and lightning’ and instantly headed for a dark corner, only emerging when the storm had passed.

A children’s book called Chi Chi the Rescue Dog -Never Give Up is available from a wide range of outlets

Sadly, Chi Chi passed away on February 4th 2019 of cancer.

Such a short life, greatly missed, but what a legacy she left behind.