Happy Christmas tail: A donor gives a dog a home

WASHINGTON – It’s not every day someone plops down $1,000 for a dog he/she does not own. However, one good Samaritan decided to do just that, giving a little dog an early Christmas present.

Denise Spicer, assistant manager for the Stafford County Animal Shelter says Maddie, a possible corgi/dachshund/spaniel mix, came into the shelter in October as a stray.

The 10-year-old dog arrived with a tumor on her belly, which Spicer says, kept her from being adopted.

“[People] were a little leery of adopting a dog that had a possible medical problem,” says Spicer, who says someone stepped up and offered to foot the bill for surgery to remove Maddie’s tumor.

“For Maddie’s surgery it was a little over a grand,” says Spicer, adding that it is not often someone pays a vet bill so that an animal can be adopted.

Maddie had the surgery on Dec. 6 and is doing well. Spicer says she bounced back very quickly from the operation.

The good news is Maddie will be going home for the holidays. Late Saturday afternoon, she was adopted by a family. She will even have an 8-year-old brother, who is a dachshund.

WTOP’s Kathy Stewart contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter.

(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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