Dog lover’s last-ditch attempt to save life of sick puppy

Sean de la Harpe-Parker adopted Archie the Golden Retriever knowing the puppy did not have long to live.

Archie, who suffers from a congenital heart condition, with his owner Sean. Courtesy Sean de la Harpe-Parker

DUBAI // Sean de la Harpe-Parker knowingly took on the job of ensuring a five-month-old puppy’s last few days, weeks or months were as happy and comfortable as possible.

But he didn’t count on falling hopelessly in love with him.

Now Sean will spare no expense to save Archie the golden retriever, his new best friend, who has a rare heart condition.

“I saw this little puppy up for adoption and wondered why,” the South African says. “It turned out he has a serious heart condition. What they needed was somebody strong enough to take care of him until he passed away.

“I fell in love with him the moment I saw him, he’s beautiful. I just can’t give up until I’ve exhausted all options. He’s like my little kid and I will do everything I possibly can to look after him.”

Archie was examined by vets at two clinics in Dubai. The first told Sean the puppy did not have long and that nothing could be done, but the second offered some hope when he said Archie could be examined and treated by a cardiologist.

“There are no veterinary cardiologists in the UAE so we managed to get him looked at by a regular cardiologist in Dubai,” says Sean.

“The doctor said if Archie were a little boy, it would be easy to fix but open-heart surgery for a dog in the UAE was not possible.”

Archie has pulmonic stenosis, a narrowing of the valves from the heart to the lungs, and tricuspid dysplasia, an abnormality of the tricuspid valve in the heart, which that does not allow blood to be pumped properly.

“The only place that he can have the surgery is at Queen Mother Hospital for Small Animals in Hertfordshire, England, which has performed open-heart surgery on a few dogs and has been successful,” says Sean, general manager of My Second Home, Dubai Luxury Pet Resort and Spa, who and already has two cats and two dogs.

All of the reports and information prepared by the vets and doctors who examined Archie have been sent to surgeons at the UK hospital.

Sean is now waiting anxiously to hear if Archie can undergo the life-saving surgery.

“We are waiting for a response to see whether Archie can be operated on and we’ll know in a few days,” he says.

In the meantime, Sean says his little mate is bearing up as well as can be expected.

“Archie loves to act like a puppy but he’s tired all the time,” he says.

“When he does have his good moments, you can see that he has a mischievous, happy character and loves to grab shoes and other stuff in the house to make a pile.”