I'd like to know the name of the insurance company so that I don't ever
use them! Julie

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http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/cobb/1004/01stormdog.html

Marietta vet saves dog trapped 4 days

By DON PLUMMER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/01/04

Wolf is nothing like his namesake. But then, the small mixed-breed dog
is still recuperating from surgery after surviving four days under a
collapsed car inside a flattened garage.

Three weeks after two trees felled by remnants of Hurricane Frances
trapped Wolf, he flinches when Marietta veterinarian Michael Good holds
out a handful of food. Good recently amputated Wolf's crushed leg.

"That's OK, boy," Good says, his mile-a-minute patter slowing as he hugs
his patient. "He'll know he's loved by the time he leaves here."

As Wolf stares dolefully, Good kisses the black-and-white dog on the
head and ruffles his fur. Good's assured manner comes from having
treated thousands of severely injured animals, his obvious affection
from a zeal to save pets others call hopeless.

Wolf's owners, Lisa Hill, 33, and her husband, Gary, 54, had worried the
dog wouldn't survive.

"We had been calling the insurance company and told them we could hear
Wolf barking and crying, but it wasn't any big deal to them," Gary Hill
said Thursday.

"The man I talked to on the phone said our insurance didn't cover
animals." The representative said he couldn't authorize the $18,000 tree
removal until an adjuster had seen their crushed garage, flattened car
and the hole in the back of their southeast Atlanta home, Hill said.

The insurance company did not return a telephone call Thursday.

After Wolf was freed, it was obvious he was badly injured. The Hills
sought help for Wolf at several animal shelters but said they were told
he would be better off being euthanized.

"We didn't have the money to pay for an operation," said Gary Hill, who
is on disability from his job as a demolition worker. "We searched
around and searched around and finally someone referred us to Dr. Good."

Wolf became one of more than 2,000 seriously injured animals treated
over the past five years by Good's Homeless Pet Foundation.

His operation was a success, but Wolf isn't out of the woods yet, Good said.

"He had probably 500 fleas on him when we got him and he probably has
heartworms and things I don't even want to know about yet, but he has a
good chance now," Good said.

Because the Hills can't continue to care for Wolf he will be made
available for adoption by the Homeless Pet Foundation, Good said.

• ON THE WEB: Your can learn more about the Homeless Pet Foundation: at
www.homelesspets.com