A snowstorm, fate and a good samaritan

A snowstorm, fate and a good samaritan all had a hand in keeping “Hope” alive. Had it not been for a snowstorm in Arizona, Dave Birkley, a Salt Lake resident en route from Atlanta to San Francisco, would not have taken a detour through Gallup, New Mexico and the Navajo Reservation. Along the way, Birkley noticed a little red animal bobbing up and down in the snow and decided to take a closer look. At first glance he thought it was a fox. But it turned out to be a small dog with a broken leg that was in dire need of medical attention.

“I knew she would die out there,” says Birkley, who has long been involved in animal rescue. “It was cold, there was alot of snow and nobody was going to help her.”

After overcoming the objections of less than friendly locals in Tohatchi, New Mexico, Birkley loaded the little dog, whoʼd recently had a litter of puppies, and hit the road for Salt Lake. Along the way, he began calling various animal organizations, reaching out for help and medical assistance for ʻHope.ʼ “The Humane Society of Utah stepped up and saved this little girlsʼ life,” says Birkley.

To save ʻHope,ʼ Dr. Paul Chapin had to amputate her severely broken right front leg. Within a week, ʻHopeʼ was running and playing like a puppy and soon after she was adopted by Dr. Katie Jolma. “Iʼve had an Indian reservation dog before who I loved dearly and miss very much,” says Katie, adding “I thought it would be nice to help out another dog who needed help and a home.”