Chloe's Story Part II

I had been living on Maui for almost a year and started to think about getting a dog. I don't know how serious I was, but I found myself looking at the pet section on craigslist almost everyday. When I saw the picture Cynthia and Jim had put up of Chloe on Craigslist I was hooked. At first I didn't realize that she had only three legs, I was distracted by the sweet look on her face. As I read the post and learned Chloe's story I knew I had to meet her. I immediately contacted the Lippert's and set up a time to meet Chloe. Later that week I headed to the South side to meet Chloe. It was love at first sight. After the initial visit, the Lippert's wanted me to take Chloe home for an overnight stay to see how it worked out. My parents also happened to be in town and all three of us fell in love with Chloe. And that was that, I took Chloe back to the Lippert's so I could make up my mind whether or not I wanted to adopt her. There was no question, Chloe was going to be my dog.

Chloe was always an inspiration to me from day one. I never realized how big of an impact she would have on others. People come up to me all the time telling me what an inspiration Chloe is and how amazing she is. I think the biggest thing Chloe has taught me is to not complain about the small things in life. Whenever I am having a hard day or feel like I want to complain about something, I look at her and immediately change my way of thinking. Chloe has never once complained about any of her injuries.

Chloe has been going strong on her three legs, even after we moved back to Chicago, but unfortunately she had another accident about a month ago. She was playing with our neighbor's dog, who happens to also be her best friend. And true to Chloe's character, all she wants to do is play with this dog. While she was playing with him, she landed awkwardly on her front leg, and the other dog landed on top of her. She ended up breaking her leg in two different spots, which required surgery. Her surgical procedure went very well, but it has taken a little longer for her leg to heal. We are hoping the cast will come off within the next month. So everyone keep their fingers crossed! Overall, Chloe is doing very well and is eager to get back to the dog park to play with all her friends!

Chloe's Story Part I

Chloe's life began in the foster care for the Maui Humane Society. She was in great hands, being looked after by Cynthia and Jim Lippert. Cynthia and Jim are an amazing couple who foster puppies that are too young to stay at the Humane Society. They care for the puppies until they are adopted out by the Humane Society. Chloe was adopted by a family which they thought was a great fit for her. The family had a son who had been wanted a dog since he was 8. The mother said when he turned 12 he could get a dog. This seemed like a family that had thought a lot about being pet owners and were prepared for having a dog in their life. They also expected the son to take full responsibility of the dog. Of course, like any other 12 year old, he did not take care of the dog and the mother ended up doing most of the work.

The next thing you know, after only a couple of months, Chloe was put up for adoption on craigslist. Cynthia, the woman who initially fostered Chloe found this out and contacted the family. She also found out that Chloe was kept outside 24/7 with little or no attention. Cynthia asked for the family to bring her back, because she could easily find her a new home. They resisted at first, because they wanted to get some money for Chloe. Finally Cynthia convinced the family to bring Chloe back to her. And just as Chloe was not allowed in the family's house, she was also not allowed inside their truck. So the husband tied Chloe up in the bed of his pickup truck on a long leash to bring her back to the Lippert's home. About a couple blocks from Jim and Cynthia's house the husband noticed that Chloe had flown out of the bed of the pickup truck and was being dragged. He stopped and frantically called the Lipperts. The Lipperts met up with him and rushed Chloe to the Emergency Animal Hospital.

The initial injuries did not look good for Chloe. She was in shock and had a broken leg, nerve damage in the other leg, road rash, missing teeth, etc. Of course the vet had to contemplate whether or not to put her down. But Cynthia insisted that they should do anything and everything to keep Chloe alive. After a long couple of months of Chloe being bandaged up and casts on both her front legs, she started to heal. Her leg that was broken and her road rash had healed up. Her other leg that had nerve damage was not doing so well. That leg was just hanging there and the nerves did not seem to heal, so they decided to amputate it. And to no surprise, Chloe adjusted to having 3 legs immediately.

Jim and Cynthia Lippert are the true heros in this story. The vet wanted to put Chloe down numerous times, and the Lipperts insisted on keeping her alive. They also put in an incredible amount of time and money into Chloe's recovery. Without their love and support Chloe would not be here today. I cannot thank them enough for what they did for Chloe. And they made the ultimate sacrifice of giving Chloe up because they knew she needed to be with someone more one on one and they already had 8 of their own dogs as well as the puppies they foster for the humane society. And this is where I come into Chloe's Story.