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Saturday, Sep. 19, 2009

Great Dane escapes death, rescuer, runs to an open heart

MODESTO -- Henry was on death row, days from getting the needle, when he was saved and taken to a safe house. But three days later, he jumped the 6-foot-high fence in the back yard and went on the lam.

That's when Ron Dorville of Modesto happened along and took the Great Dane home with him. The sight of his 4-foot-10-inch wife, Sue, walking the big dog made a neighbor grin and call The Modesto Bee. The call brought the caper to light.

The Dorvilles took Henry -- Ron named him after King Henry VIII of England because the dog "has a regal air" -- to a veterinarian.

The vet found an imbedded computer chip and called the owner, Kindred Canines, a rescue group that takes in dogs scheduled for euthanasia in Merced and Stanislaus counties.

The dogs stay in foster homes until they are spayed or neutered and healthy enough to go to a "forever" family, said Kindred owner Trinity Balmonte.

Henry wasn't close to adoption; he sailed over her fence just three days after he was rescued from the Stanislaus County animal shelter on Finch Road.

It seems Henry likes to jump. He also jumped the Dorvilles' fence once. The family found him wandering inside nearby Bethel Church that time.

After the Dorvilles were connected with the rescue group, they had to relinquish Henry for a couple of weeks until he was neutered and his horrible kennel cough went away. Then Ron and Sue adopted him late last month, and it's been a perfect fit.

Henry has been good medicine for Ron, a retired Army colonel who served in Vietnam, has post-traumatic stress disorder and is recovering from prostate cancer surgery earlier this summer.

For Sue, who always has loved animals and whose beloved cocker spaniel, Lady, died a year ago at the ripe old age of 18, it's fun to have another dog in the family.

For Balmonte, who loves a happy ending, Henry and the Dorvilles are a perfect fit. And for Cindy Henry, who called The Modesto Bee, seeing Henry and hearing his story lifted her heart.

"When I first saw Sue with (Henry), it looked like maybe a small pony had escaped from the circus," Henry said. "It just sent warm fuzzies all over me. I had just had a quadruple bypass several weeks ago. Just to be so close to death myself and hear this happy story, it just lifted me." Story continues below video.

Happy ending "They're just fantastic people, both of them," Balmonte said of the Dorvilles. "He's a lucky, lucky dog. So are they."

Ron Dorville, 62, spent 30 months during two tours of Vietnam and racked up 1,800 combat hours flying Huey helicopters.

He met his wife when he later was stationed in Germany and was in the hospital for back problems. Sue Dorville, a 61-year-old Australian native, was a medical secretary there.

The two married in 1971 and moved to Modesto in the late 1980s when Ron took a job with E.&J. Gallo Winery as an internal auditor.

He eventually became a tax specialist for Gallo and retired a couple of years ago. Sue, who ran a day care business out of their home for 20 years, recently earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from California State University, Stanislaus, and works with disabled students at Hughes Elementary School in Empire.

Ron had his prostate removed in early July. Part of the recovery is taking long walks, he said.

"I was really down, trying to get through this," he said. "I was supposed to walk for 30 to 45 minutes a day. I was just dragging this one day because it was so hot. I looked down Surrey Avenue to the east and saw this huge dog just on his last legs.

"I kept walking, because the last thing I wanted was a dog. It came toward me and it was huge, so I was a little bit tentative. Then its eyes were like, 'Hey, mister, I'm dead beat. Can you help me?' So I took him home."

Now that Henry is part of their family, Ron said, "he gets only the best food."

Besides pricey canned food, Ron also feeds him a pound of chicken and Egg Beaters every day. Henry, a scrawny 108 pounds when rescued, weighs in at 115 pounds now. He sleeps on a special orthopedic pad for large dogs next to the Dorvilles' bed.

"He snores, but so do my wife and myself, so we don't mind," Ron said. "He loves all people. He's just a gentle giant; everybody just loves him. He loves to play with other dogs, too. He understands little dogs. He'll lay down and let them jump on him. He plays with them by putting his paw on their back."

"We're very, very lucky that Ron went walking that day," Sue said. "Henry is Ron's shadow; when Ron walks out of the room, the dog ups and follows him. It's kind of nice to see that they have such a bond."

She said Henry has helped Ron deal with his PTSD, too.

"It's wonderful to see these two clown around. It's a real treat to see them together." Balmonte said it was an exceptionally good placement.

"Even beyond the incredible connection that those two (Ron and Henry) have found, they've become very close to our family," Balmonte said. "That dog brought these two families together. Most dog adoptions have been wonderful, but this one is beyond wonderful."