Episode: Locks of Love
Emergency Vet: Dr. Jeff Steen and Dr. Mark Albrecht
Animal: Cassie

In the midst of an emergency, Betty Jean House must rely on the kindness of strangers. Her dog Cassie escaped the house and has been hit by a car, but Betty Jean's own injured hip makes transporting the Aussie Mix difficult.

Unacquainted neighbors who heard the accident rush to offer assistance. "When you have emergencies like this, you have all these wonderful strangers who come in to help you," says Mrs. House. "That's when you know you have a guardian angel."

At Alameda East, Dr. Jeff Steen confirms what is painfully obvious: now held together only by soft tissue, Cassie's left leg has snapped in two. The injury looks dramatic, but the dog has evaded any life threatening injuries. The next day, surgeon Mark Albrecht uses a bone plate to repair the fractured left ulna. But following the surgery, Cassie immediately starts to favor the right leg. She has a sprained right wrist that isn't likely to heal, and another surgery is necessary to partially fuse the joint.

After surgeries in both front legs and weeks at the hospital, Betty Jean welcomes her companion back home. Despite a persistent limp in Cassie's right leg, Mrs. House knows that a full recovery isn't far away. "I believe that Cassie, when she gets her mind set to it, she will just put it down one day, and she will walk."