Triumph's Story began January 15, 2003 in Turkey
where she was found beside the road bleeding--
her rear legs had been cut off!

She was taken to a shelter where the first of many miracles began....
they treated her wounds and kept her alive
instead of euthanizing her, as many would have.

Her story was put in the paper there
and for the next two months they tried to find her a forever home.

Unfortunately, no one came forward....
however, two volunteers who worked with the shelter took a liking to her and began the huge effort of trying to find that forever person.

Renin and her mother Armagon contacted a friend in Philadelphia.... Coral put the story up with a picture of the dog
standing on a stainless steel table with a look it was hard to ignore
on the Siberian rescue sites where it caught the interest of Belinda in Baltimore.

Somehow it was sent via email to a woman in Nashville
who has worked for years with the most severely abused dogs.....
damaged either physically or emotionally.

"Moe" (as she is called) is the first to tell you
when she did the first reading of the story
got all the way down to the part that the dog was in Turkey...
she didn't see what she could do and deleted the story.

That same day, another person sent the same photo with the same plea..... "Can you please help this animal?"

At that point it was obvious to Moe that she was supposed to do something and so she began getting more information and ultimately Belinda, Coral & Moe after 6 weeks of effort were able to get a plane reservation.

Between them, they contacted every International airline in the United States and all refused to transport her because of her condition.

Finally, the Turkish Airlines agreed to help.
The money it was supposed to cost was gathered from friends, relatives, and anyone else who would listen to the story.

The money was sent to Turkey
and at the very last minute at the airport in Istanbul,
Turkish Airlines informed Renin and her mother that the costs -
instead of a little over $500 -
had now gone to over $2100.

Renin placed an emergency call to Moe, who put up her credit card.

People in Moe's office at the time told her it could be a scam and she could lose money.... acting only on instinct she sent the information anyway.

A couple hours later Renin again called to say Triumph was on the plane.

The airline however had not accepted the credit card...they wanted cash.

Moe asked how they had gotten her on the plane....

Renin's mother had gone to her life savings and put up the money,
believing Moe would pay her back...which of course she did.

Think of the trust involved here....
no one even really spoke the same language ...
had not one reason to trust, yet...

one more miracle on Triumph's journey took place.

Triumph was met in New York by Coral and Belinda after the long flight
and they immediately took her to be checked out by a vet
and she spent a night with those two Godmothers.

The next day they placed her on the plane to Nashville
where she was met by her forever mom.

Moe has still never met Coral, Belinda, Renin or Armagon...
it is her wish to do so, one day.

Moe had "happened" to be introduced a year before ever hearing of Triumph to a man in another town who made prosthesis for humans.
When called, Tom came forward and volunteered to give making some prosthetic legs a try. After several tries, Tom fashioned some prosthesis that had Triumph up and walking. Her story doesn't end there, however....

Ultimately (and after several more miracles you can read about in detail in Triumph's story in her own words) she came to Denver and met with Carrie at Colorado Rehab and Alameda East Veterinary Hospital who "happened" to introduce them to Dr. Robert Taylor who "happened" to be able to offer a brand new cutting edge surgery that hadn't been done before.

Dr. Taylor just "happened" to know all the right people to make it "happen."

Triumph is now in the healing process of that cutting edge surgery that has given her permanently implanted prosthesis.

Her surgery was August 16, 2005.

Denver's CBS 4 chronicled Triumph's miraculous journey
July 18, 2005,
October 6, 2005,
November 30, 2005,
October 23, 2006, and
March 3, 2007.
Dr. Taylor's goal was to have her chasing the Thanksgiving turkey..... What a day of Thanksgiving that was!

Moe will be the first person to tell you though,
that NOTHING in this dogs life has been by accident.....
it's as if she has a mission and a destiny
that only Triumph and her maker knows.

Moe has said many times that she is the blessed one
who is at the end of the leash of a dog that is doing the footwork
and leaving the results to God.

From the first day she arrived in this country,
Triumph has given back by becoming a Delta Certified Therapy dog
who has brought smiles to hundreds of people and children in schools and hospitals. They see her overcome her challenge and makes them want to overcome theirs, too.... she is known as the "Smile Bringer."

She also contributed in the schools in Project R.E.A.D.,
where children not reading up to par read and work one on one with dogs and improve their reading levels.

There have been many "miracles" and "happenings"
and funny stories over the last 4+ years
with many wonderful people involved....

You can read about them all in her story which she is writing in her own words. It isn't finished yet....but--you'll get the point, and if you are interested....keep coming back.