Sometimes you encounter a person who restores your faith in human nature, and Emma Foxall is such a person. She is the woman who heard about a Golden Retriever puppy with a heart condition. His name was Alfie, and his owners knew they couldn’t meet the costs of his treatment, and advertised him on the Internet. Emma knew she had to help him, and she did.
Initially she offered him foster home, and generated media interest with appeals to everyone she could think of. Her strategy paid off and she received donations to cover the cost of Alfie’s medical bills. Needless to say that having been through so much with Alfie, Emma could not bear to part with him, and so he joined her other three dogs, all rescues.
Here’s an update from Emma:
"Alfie is doing really well. The surgery was a success and up to now, the new hole made in his heart is patent and allowing his heart to function much better. He is now pretty much a normal puppy, can exercise normally and is living life to full.
He will be going back to Liverpool University in February to be checked over and scanned to make sure his heart is still functioning as well as hoped. He is only one medication now (he was on four!) and will likely stay on this last one for life.
He is still small for his age and always will be - currently just 18kg at 9 months of age.
He does still have a heart condition, obviously, and it will likely shorten his life in the long term. Because he is (so far) one of a kind, there are no answers to his life expectancy, but we see no reason why he shouldn't go on to reach double figures.
Of course we are just determined to make his life as enjoyable, normal and very much doglike as possible."
Caring for dogs who really need some TLC obviously runs in the family, as Emma’s Mum has taken in a terminally ill Boxer, hoping to make his last few months (or weeks) as pleasant as possible. How lovely some people can be.
You can keep up to date with Alfie's adventures at Emma's blog http://alfiesheart.co.uk/
Emma has written an account of Alfie’s story so far, which we will be adding to our article section as soon as possible – do check it out. Alfie may have had a faulty heart, but I would say Emma must have one of gold. I hope they enjoy many more years together.
Take care
Julie x