Written by Lauren McBride – foster mum for Grace Animal Sanctuary
Professional photography by B Photographed
Koa Baxter came to us as a five-week-old puppy whose mommy had died. Caron Burger and Elana Lodewyk of Grace Animal Sanctuary rescued him and his siblings. He was a happy, brave and curious four-legged pooch.
When he was two months old, he was mauled by a bigger dog and was rushed to an emergency hospital, where it was determined that his leg was broken, and he’d suffered several bite wounds. Sadly, due to lack of immediate treatment bar pain relief, and after moving him to our trusted vet five days later, Koa Baxter had to have the leg amputated.
He stayed in the hospital for two nights, and Caron Burger fetched him on his discharge and brought him to us for foster care.
His sister, Blaire, was so excited to have her brother back, and Koa Baxter was so happy to be home. His tail was wagging, and he was back to being a happy puppy. The healing process went quickly, and he was such a trooper, playing as if nothing had happened.
Koa Baxter loves the outdoors, especially the plants. He's such a cuddle buddy and loves to love his humans. His tail wags furiously when anyone talks to him.
We desperately wanted to keep him with us, but we knew that he needed more than we could give him, so we searched for the absolute best home for him. So many applications came in for him and we had to sift through them to see which family was perfect for him.
We found Michelle Enslin and Adrian Van Der Merwe, who’d already fallen in love with him the moment they saw the first photo of him. Michelle contacted me, and we chatted several times a day. I knew she was the one for Koa Baxter. She did all her research on three-legged dogs and what they needed to prepare for him. She bought everything he needed and she and Adrian even drove down from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town to collect Koa Baxter.
Michelle Enslin, Koa Baxter’s new owner, shares…
Koa Baxter adores love, kisses and his toys. He’s very much imprinted on us and makes sure he gets all the attention when not getting some well-deserved rest.
He was an absolute angel on the trip home from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth and is a very well-behaved little boy (at home and work – yes, he comes with me to work!).
From the start, he let us know when he needed to “go to the bathroom”, which was just unbelievable. Koa Baxter sleeps straight through the night in the bed with us, but of course, he has to be touching us and have a pillow of his own!
All his new family (and work family too) are very much in love and smitten with him. He loves to play fetch for as long as he’s able! Sleeping is also a favourite pastime, but all growing boys need their beauty sleep, especially one so cute.
Koa is still working on winning over his kitty brother and sister, but he tries to be a very patient, good boy and is determined not to give up. Nothing gets him down he’s just such a blessing and makes us laugh a lot.
We can’t wait until after his last vaccination to be able to take him to the beach and for him to meet new doggy friends. We look forward to spending the rest of our lives together.
