Champ: The beagle who helps to heal

By Gina Spadafori

May 24, 2009

In this morning’s Parade magazine, there’s an article written by our own Dr. Marty Becker and Mikkel Becker Shannon on Champ, the badly burned beagle who learned to trust and is now sharing that lesson with others:

“We always have had a heart for abused animals,” says Janice Martin, a home health aide from Fair Lawn, N.J., who, along with her husband Mike, a former construction worker, has volunteered at the local animal-rescue organization for 15 years. It was there they met the burned puppy they named Champ and took him in with the intention of fostering him. “We have nursed many abused dogs back to health, and then they go to new homes,” Janice explains.

But from the beginning, the Martins knew taking care of Champ would be different. “When I went to pick up the puppy, I could hardly hold back my tears looking at his red, raw flesh where fur should be,” says Janice. She immediately knew the family had a challenge on its hands. The beagle puppy seemed to have no will to live. And on top of that, Janice’s husband, Mike, was struggling, too.

“I had only recently overcome kidney cancer when I was struck with a massive heart attack,” Mike recalls. “I had to go on disability, which for me was like a prison sentence, and I became depressed. But I dedicated myself to Champ’s care. He cried often, yelping in pain when Janice or I applied cream to his burns.”

Slowly, the dog’s physical injuries healed, and with them one kind of pain subsided. But for both Mike and Champ, there was still plenty of hurt inside.

Read the rest on the Parade Web site, here. And if you’d like to make a donation to the Save The Animals Rescue Team, which covered Champ’s medical expenses, go here.