VIDEO: Golden retriever with 46-pound tumor found alone on a beach

Golden retrievers are one of the top dog breeds in people’s preferences. The dogs in this breed generally have an even, friendly and tolerant temperament, with basically no differences between males and females. Its adorable temperament makes it an ideal family pet that will get along great with babies and children, while its exquisite intelligence makes it a perfect working dog. Golden retrievers are famous for the fact that they excel at retrieving game for hunters, tracking, sniffing out drugs, and they are extremely good assistance and therapy dogs. Moreover, these dogs are superb athletes and are animals that do well in agility and competitive obedience.

Among other characteristics of this breed are the fact that it is extremely sensitive, it has extremely low tolerance for being alone and it is extremely friendly even to strangers. Golden retrievers are also known for being extremely affectionate with members of their family, which further reinforces their reputation as an amazing breed for companionship.

Which makes it the more surprising that this golden retriever was found by police officers wandering alone on a beach and, even more surprising, he had a 46-pound tumor that was interfering with his walking abilities and that was dragging him down. The police officers got extremely concerned when they saw this and they immediately took the animal to the Newport Beach Animal Hospital. At the hospital they were told that the tumor nearly doubled the poor dog’s body weight, making plenty of veterinarian surgeons rather reluctant at the idea of removing a tumor that was that big.

Nevertheless, the police officers somehow managed to find an expert that would take care of Henry’s tumor. This was only the first step: all of Henry’s medical expenses, surgery and other medical bills required a lot of money, which the police officers did not have at the time. Luckily, Henry’s sad story struck a cord with a lot of people, so there were a lot of donations directed at him that helped cover the huge medical expenses that arose from such a complicated procedure.

“Most vets that we’ve asked and have been involved in his story have never seen [a tumor] that big,” Valerie Schomburg, an animal control supervisor with the Newport Beach Police Department, declared regarding the surgery. “He has so much love and life to live that we wanted to give him a second chance.”

Henry is thought to be around 7 or 8 years old. His heartbreaking case made the police began an inquiry so that they could find the dog’s owner and charge him with cruel and dangerous neglect. The police inquiry turned out to be successful, as Henry’s owner, Sherri Haughton, was eventually found and charged, thus showing that no animal should be treated with disrespect and not be taken care of the way that Henry had to go through.

Henry’s story had a happy ending despite all the hardships. After he went through the surgical intervention, Henry got healthy once again and found a new happy home, full of love.