'Charlie's Angels': Puppy Who Stole Hearts Showered With Love By Little Boy, Vet Staff Saving Her Life

MATTITUCK, NY — It was puppy kisses and plenty of hugs Saturday as the little boy, 7, who donated all his money to help a dog in need paid a visit to his new four-legged best friend.

Charlie's plight has touched the collective hearts of a community and now, enough donations have come in so that she can begin treatment for a rare condition that has left her paralyzed, with a mass. Charlie will begin radiation Monday.

But on Saturday, Charlie's angels came to shower love on the American Bully, who wows everyones she meets with her affectionate and exuberant spirit. Despite the fact that her back two legs are paralyzed, that doesn't deter Charlie, who hops about with boundless energy, eager to meet new friends and bestow kisses on her sea of fans.

Sean Zurawski, 7, came to visit the puppy and see how she was feeling. Days before, he was so taken by the story of the puppy in need that he told him mom he wanted to give all of his saved up money — $160 that he's collected in a jar since he was just four years old — to save Charlie.

Giving Charlie hugs Saturday, he said, "She's so cute."

Sean said his mom inspired him to begin saving money in the jar. He said he gets much of his money from his mom, who drops change while hanging up clothes. "She has holes in her pockets," he joked, laughing.

A first grader Sean loves art; he also loves video games, as well as playing soccer, kickball and lacrosse; sometimes his own dogs often join in, running after the ball.

He loves animals, he said. "They're fun and playful." Sometimes, he said, his dogs even sleep in his bed.

And Charlie's story has touched the whole family said Patti Zurawski of Mattituck, who read about Charlie's plight on Facebook.

They already bring their four dogs to the Mattituck Laurel Veterinary Hospital, where Dr. Beth Dunbar, along with vet tech Diana Stulsky have been caring for Charlie.

Zurawski made a donation to help Charlie and then her son wanted to donate his money, too.

"He's been collecting change in a jar for two to three years now," Zurawski said. "He knew he always wanted to donate to one of the animal hospitals."

On Saturday, visitors who came to meet Charlie commended Sean on his generosity.

"You're a wonderful fellow," Jane Prindle told him.

At school, Sean's teacher has read the stories about his kindness to the class and told her student how proud she is of him.

But once he saw Charlie, little Sean knew he had to help; he was smitten. Even Zurawski's daughter Nikki, who attends Sacred Heart University, came home and found herself drawn in by Charlie, donating $50 to help.

The family went to the MLVH to drop off their donations in person.

Charlie's demeanor captures hearts. "She's got such a great personality and big heart," Zurawski said.

Sean said he was excited to use his money to help — and he wants to do the same for another animal in need.

"As soon as he got home from meeting Charlie he asked for the jar so he could put more change inside and start saving up again," his mom said.

It's Charlie's endearing personality that has won hearts near and far.

And, with Charlie's treatment about to begin, Stulsky said she wants the community to know how much their infinite generosity is appreciated. "Charlie can't speak, but on behalf of Charlie, we'd like to say 'thank you,'" she said.

With the recent increase in donations, now staff is able to afford a pre-radiation MRI, Dr. Beth Dunbar said, to allow more accurate treatment of the tumor without risking the treatment of unaffected tissue and any unnecessary side effects. She will receive high intensity radiation treatment in order to attack the tumor as aggressively and safely as possible. The treatment will last for three days.

"We can't thank everyone enough for all of Charlie's donations," Stulsky said. The outpouring of love and support, she said, has touched her heart. "It's humbling."

But Charlie has an amazing will, Stulsky said. "She's an amazing little girl. She's a fighter."

And what Sean did, she added, "sparked" the widespread show of support for the puppy — a little boy's giving heart lead to a surge in donations, with one woman, who divides her time between Southampton and New York, and who lost two dogs to cancer, donating $2,000.

"Everyone was inspired by this young man," Stulsky said.

The pup is so popular that she now has her own Facebook page "Charlie Duran," where regular updates on Charlie's progress will be posted for the legions of angels who want to support her.

A GoFundMe page, "Help Us Help Charlie," has raised $8,292, surpassing its $8,000 goal, with donations still pouring in. Charlie will need extensive medical treatment, so donations are critical, and any funding left over will be used to help other animals in need.

"It amazes me that you have a young puppy who must be in pain, aside from her mobility issues, but she's the happiest, loving thing you could ever imagine," Zurawski said. "She just wants to meet everyone and be with them; she loves the other animals. Seeing that personality reminds you of what things can be like. In this day and age, unfortunately, you don't often see a lot of that in people — but you do see it in animals."

Seeing her own children give back has been deeply rewarding, Zurawski said. "It's nice to know you've raised kids that care about other people and other things beside themselves."

Charlie's journey
Dr. Dunbar said Charlie is an American Bully, a mix of French and English bulldog and pit bull.

When she was just four months old, the pup had sudden onset paresis, or partial paralysis of her back legs. While that's normally caused by some sort of disc rupture, it's not common in such a young dog, she said. When, after cage rest and steroids, Charlie didn't improve, the situation was dire.

Her owners couldn't afford to pay for further diagnostics and were going to put her to sleep. "Everyone here at the hospital said, 'We can't let this dog be put to sleep. It was like a coup. So we talked to the owners, told them no one wants her to be put to sleep, and they graciously agreed" to give her up, Dr. Dunbar said.

Charlie, Dr. Dunbar said, "has just got one of those personalities that wins your heart. I don't know anyone who's not fallen in love with this dog. I've never seen a dog with so much happiness. It's contagious," she said.

Next, Dr. Dunbar said, mobile vet Dr. Jeffrey Seaman did a myelogram, using a special dye to outline her spinal cord and found a mass, a nephroblastoma, usually related to kidneys and sometimes found in children. Cells that were supposed to form Charlie's kidneys got stuck in her spinal cord, an extremely rare condition, she explained.

After consulting with both the Veterinary Medical Center of Long Island and the Animal Medical Center — who agreed the case was extremely rare — AMC said they'd had one case years before where, with radiation, the dog is still alive two years later.

The hope is that Charlie can be treated with radiation and mobility possibly restored, Dr. Dunbar said.

Charlie wins hearts

The outpouring of love from the North Fork and veterinary communities has been overwhelming, Dr. Dunbar said.

"It's so heartwarming how much a dog can bring a community together," she said. "It brings me to tears, that people are so caring. It restores your faith in humanity."

Dr. Dunbar has been bringing Charlie home every night and her husband and stepdaughter are equally captivated by her sweet personality.

And Charlie is equally smitten with Dr. Dunbar, listening at the door as he hears her footsteps approaching at the vet and gazing adoringly into her eyes.

Today Charlie is five months old, Stulsky said. "She wants desperately to be a normal puppy. She tries to play with other dogs and they run from her because she can't use her hind legs and looks funny," she said.

Mattituck-Laurel Veterinary Hospital funded the costs for a dye study of her spinal canal, which revealed a mass; Charlie is going to require spinal surgery by a board certified veterinary surgeon specialized in that type of surgery, she wrote.

The goal is to try and remove the mass and hopefully relieve some of the pressure on her spinal cord, Stulsksy said.

"The hope is that she will then recover some use of her hind legs and be able to one day walk again and be a normal puppy. After the surgery she will require intensive physical therapy to help regain function in her hind legs. She will also need a doggie wheelchair to help her get around," Stulsky said.

Dr. Jeffrey Seaman, DVM, MS,DAVS has offered to donate his services and perform the surgery.

"Unfortunately, she will still need physical therapy and a wheelchair, which Mattituck-Laurel Veterinary Hospital cannot provide," Stulsky wrote. "We are asking for help to raise the funds for the physical therapy and wheelchair so that she might walk again and enjoy the life of a normal puppy."

And with both Dr. Dunbar and the Zurawski family potential adopters — and the entire staff at the Mattituck Laurel-Veterinary Hospital Charlie's family — no matter where she ultimately lives, Stulsky said, "She's going to have an amazing forever home."

And, said Dr. Dunbar, the generosity of community that rallied to save a little dog facing big challenges overwhelms. "It moves me to tears."

On Charlie's collar is a guardian angel pin that a caring individual gave the pup. "Charlie's got a lot of guardian angels," Dr. Dunbar said.

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