Hope joined the Heine family after Stephanie and Erik Heine found her malnourished and badly hurt. The family has dealt with mounting vet bills and is looking for financial help for Hope's recovery.
Erik Heine hugs Hope, the newest member to the Heine family. Hope has been an inspiration for the Stephanie and Erik Heine since they found her in their yard.
Hope Heine, a mixed breed pup, didn’t begin life with a lot of optimism.
Hope was neglected and faced serious burns from unknown chemicals. However, her luck changed when she walked into the yard of an Angier family. Stephanie and Erik Heine gave the poor dog hope for a better life and a truly loving home. However, Hope still faces an uphill battle as she continues her road to recovery.
Stephanie Heine said Hope did not come in to the family willingly at first.
“He (Stephanie’s husband, Erik) went out there to see what was going on and then she decided to get up and start walking around to get away from us, but finally she couldn’t go anymore and fell to the ground and allowed us to pick her up so we could take her to the vet. When we found her she was not badly injured; her back paws were but she was extremely thin and we could tell she was in pain.”
The Heine family knew they had to help Hope. However, the treatment was a lot more extensive than they anticipated.
“When we first took her to the vet they only wrapped her back paws because her front paws seemed to be fine,” Stephanie Heine said. “A few days later we took her back to the vet to have a check up and that’s when they decided to wrap her front paws as well because within two days they had gotten extremely worse.
“She also had all of her fur when we found her so for two weeks we were only treating her paws then her fur started falling out showing more of her injuries. Now we have been able to determine the cause of her injuries and are able to fully treat them and we are doing so by good antibiotics and some burn ointment and we are also treating her for her demodectic mange.”
Stephanie fell in love with Hope from the beginning.
“We weren’t sure if we were going to keep hope at first because we have two other dogs but when we found her it was on a Sunday and we could not find anybody to help her. So we took on the responsibility to take her to the vet and get her better and it wasn’t very long until we fell in love with her.”
The dog has inspired Stephanie.
“She (Hope) is such an inspiration. She has been through so much but still is willing to show you how much love she has in her. Hope has always felt at home from day one in our family,” Stephanie said. “The only difference from then till now is that she knows how to get on the couch.”
The Heine family has faced mounting veterinary bills in their attempt to help Hope.
“We have spent $1,600 on vet bills and we are unsure how much it will ultimately cost to get her better,” Stephanie said, “but we are thinking around $3,000.”
Hope’s story has received a lot of local media attention and people have questioned how they can help hope. People can donate money for Hope’s care. Hope has her own Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Thereisalwayshope472013. You also can mail donations to Hope Heine, c/o P.O. Box 615, Angier NC 27501-0615.
Stephanie said all those who meet the dog fall in love with her.
“Hope is the most strong and loving dog I have ever met. She still has the puppy and her and she is extremely playful if she didn’t have the visible wounds, you couldn’t tell anything is wrong with her.”
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