Jul 31, 2009 4:40 pm US/Mountain
Vet Nurses Foal Back To Health, Adopts Him
Written by CBS4's Suzanne McCarroll
ESTES, Colo (CBS4) ―
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CBS4's Suzanne McCarroll says hello to Chippewa.
CBS
An update on one our most popular stories at CBS4News.
Chippewa, a malnourished colt, was adopted by a community and nursed back to health as we paid it forward.
Chippewa came into this world in sub zero temperatures on Valentines Day of this year. He was almost two months premature and much too weak to drink his mother's milk. So Dr. Marie Richardson, the town dog and cat vet, brought the sickly foal to her clinic. She fed him every three hours for the first three months of his life. She administered medicine and bandaged his injured legs. He had seizures. She never gave up.
"We just took his medical problems one at a time." said Dr. Richardson.
The town of Estes Park followed his progress in the town newspaper. They walked by the corral outside the vet's office to see for themselves how he was doing. Most of the time he laid on his side too weak to stand.
That was then. Today, Chippewa is feisty and jumping around that same corral. He's gained more than one hundred pounds.
"He's still skinny, but he'll catch up." said Dr. Richardson.
Richardson says Chip doesn't realize he's a horse not a human. Nor does he realize she's a vet not his mother.
"He loves company, loves attention, he's a camera hound."
Indeed he does. Chippewa wouldn't leave photojournalist Bill Masure alone. He followed him around, rubbed his nose on the camera lens, and nestled close to Masure as he tried to shoot video.
So the town vet, who was committed to finding a good home for Chip, has indeed found a family to adopt him. Hers.
"My kids love him, my husband loves him, he's definitely part of the family."
So Dr. Richardson is adopting Chip and its apparent watching the two of them, he has already adopted her.
Dr. Richardson is still trying to recoup the money she spent on medical care for Chippewa, you can send donations to Animal Hospital of the Rockies, P.O. Box 2897, Estes Park, CO 80517
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