20 Februar y 2021
G
unny the Greyhound was
oblivious.
"He just knows he's going
to get treats aerward," said
Dr. Josh Barkman.
So there was Gunny on Christmas Eve,
all 93 pounds of him, volunteering to give
a life-saving blood transfusion for one
sick little shelter dog. Well, not exactly
volunteering but not minding either.
Again, those treats.
It all started with the kind-hearted
mother-daughter team of Pickett Smith and
Truett Smith and a nonprofit organization
called Australian Shepherds Furever. e
Smiths had three pooches in their home
already when they got a call about a dog
that had been brought into the Cumberland
County Animal Services shelter.
e pup was in bad shape. "Set to be
euthanized," Pickett Smith said.
ey named her Ember for that little
spark of hope that shone in her eyes despite
her pitiful condition. Australian Shepherds
Furever arranged for Ember to be transferred
to Highland Animal Hospital, where Josh and
his brother Japheth are second-generation
veterinarians in the practice their father Dave
has co-owned since 1976.
It didn't take long for Josh Barkman
to realize Ember was in trouble. She
was malnourished and anemic from a
gastrointestinal ulcer.
"She was sad, depressed and mopey," he
said. He told the Smiths that he thought
the dog's only hope was through a blood
transfusion. So he summoned for Gunny,
one of his family's own dogs. e family
BY KIM HAST Y
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TONY WOOTEN
FEATURE
Dr. Josh Barkman's
greyhound Gunny
was able to provide
a blood donation to
save Ember.
Happy Endings
Two stories involving the same
veterinary practice, both have
