 | | | Mike Wonnacott and his wife Michele Jarvis-Wonnacott on Monday, Oct. 2, 2006, with the two abused weimaraner dogs they adopted in Oklahoma. On the left is Charlie and on the right is Parker. |
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Canine siblings Charlie and Parker, thrown off a bridge and left for dead in Oklahoma early this summer, are adapting to their new lives in Canada after an on-line adoption by a Saanich couple.
Starving, battered and nursing broken legs, the 12-week-old Weimaraner pups were found in June and eventually taken in by the Heartland Weimaraner Rescue Shelter in Kansas City, Mo. After veterinary treatment and weeks of rehabilitation, the pair was put up for adoption and attracted hundreds of would-be owners.
Michael Wonnacott and Michele Jarvis-Wonnacott, who followed the pups’ story via the Internet, stood out from the crowd. With three dogs already in the family and Michele had her own animal-obedience company called Connective Training, they were well set-up to handle Charlie and Parker.
The Kansas City shelter was very thorough in checking them out, Michael said.
"They take applications, they do background checks, they do reference checks. They wanted to keep the dogs more local, but they said they wouldn’t be selfish enough to pass up something like we could offer them, so that’s we were chosen."
Sister Charlie and brother Parker, named for jazz great Charlie Parker by their American benefactors, come to a home that already includes fellow Weimaraner Mya, Pomeranian/pug Pepper and Labrador/pit bull Dylan. Michele said Charlie and Parker are "inseparable.
"It was a big thing to have them go to a home together."
Parker even sports a rebuilt knee that was put back in place using bone from his sister, Michael said.
The siblings now share a double bed with Mya, Pepper and Dylan, who are all accustomed to having other dogs around from time to time.
CanWest News Service; Vancouver Province
Published: Sunday, October 01, 2006
Celebrity pooches Charlie and Parker were happy as birds Saturday in anticipation of their trip to their new home in Victoria.
The two Weimaraner puppies, whose tale of surviving for three weeks after being thrown off an Oklahoma bridge touched the hearts of people worldwide, are being brought home today by new owners Michele and Michael Wonnacott.
Michele is a dog trainer specializing in emotional rehabilitation. She has a 1,500-square-foot facility in central Victoria where Parker, a male, and female Charlie will be able to embark on a much less harrowing life along with the Wonnacott's three dogs.
After being found near death in June by joggers in Piedmont, Okla., the severely emaciated and tick-infested 12-week-old littermates were turned away from 10 animal shelters before being brought to Kansas City on June 18. There, a local rescue shelter nursed them back to health via surgery and twice-weekly rehabilitation sessions.
"They have some big scars and they are a little nervous but they are both really good," Michele Wonnacott said from Kansas City.
"When we saw them, not only did it pull at our heart strings but we knew we could build their health back up so it just made sense. There is something special about them."
So special, that the pups and their miraculous tale have garnered international media attention and were even guests of honour at a parade Friday.
Vancouver Province
Click on the Play Button Above to View The Charlie-Parker Slide Show 
