{"id":444404,"date":"2026-11-01T17:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T17:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/444404\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T17:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T17:08:12","slug":"a-tale-of-hope-in-sw-florida-how-a-broken-pup-found-a-golden-life-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/444404\/","title":{"rendered":"A Tale of ‘Hope’ in SW Florida: How a broken pup found a golden life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cliff<\/p>\n

Cliff and Roxanne Smith, volunteers with Golden Retriever Rescue of Southwest Florida, adopted Hope. Local vets treated Hope’s serious injuries and the Smiths report the pup is doing well.<\/p>\n

Provided by Golden Retriever Res<\/p>\n

USA TODAY Network, Reuters<\/p>\n

Even in great pain, the badly injured golden retriever was smiling, wagging and trying to shake paws with the people who were helping her. In short, her golden spirit was still shining. <\/p>\n

The only possible name for her was Hope and this is her story. <\/p>\n

Golden Retriever Rescue of Southwest Florida got Hope from Lee County Domestic Animal Services in July 2025. Estimated at a year old, Hope ended up at the shelter with a makeshift splint on her back leg and a bad limp. X-rays showed a broken pelvis and a fractured femur, probably caused by a collision with a car at least a week earlier. Her history remains unknown, but it appears that someone tried unsuccessfully to help her after a terrible accident. <\/p>\n

Golden Retriever Rescue rushed her to BluePearl Pet Hospital where she underwent a lengthy surgery that included a plate, a rod and screws to stabilize her pelvis and leg. Two months of low-activity rehab followed, with her vet bills topping $20,000. The rescue did a Facebook fundraiser and generous donors pitched in to help. <\/p>\n

After her surgery, Hope went to a foster home with Cliff and Roxanne Smith of Fort Myers, eight-time adopters from the rescue organization. A huge supporter of the rescue, Cliff serves as its fundraising chairman. He and his wife are legends in the pet therapy community, taking their current three rescued goldens, Colby, Mischna and Annie, to agencies like Valerie’s House and Family Initiative on a regular basis as members of United Way’s Beesley’s Paw Prints.<\/p>\n

In a series of Facebook updates, the rescue posted these comments: “This girl is a precious, classic golden. She is a velcro gal who loves everyone she meets. \u2026”<\/p>\n

“Hope continues to improve! She has discovered the joy of toys and peanut butter Kongs. Don’t you just love this beautiful face? Thanks to all of you who donated so we could save her.”<\/p>\n

And finally, this post many months later: “We know you all love success stories, so here’s one you will really enjoy! Hope’s adopters, Cliff and Roxanne, welcomed her into their pack of therapy dogs and continue to pursue treatment so she can walk normally. Cliff was happy to report that the shock-wave therapy that Dr. (Meghan) Finley at Hancock Animal Hospital & Rehabilitation Center has been doing on Hope has really been effective and she is just slightly knuckling and almost putting her paw completely down when she walks and runs.”<\/p>\n

“Hope is such a happy golden and Roxanne and I are so thrilled that she is part of our family,” said Smith. “She is our little angel who is very affectionate and loves to cuddle on the couch and in bed. And then she transforms into our demon puppy who chews everything including paper, socks, Christmas ornaments, chases lizards, and barks at everything and anything and many times at nothing!”<\/p>\n

Thanks to GRRSWF and the kindness of so many people, Hope is living the golden life she deserves. <\/p>\n

For more information about GRRSWF, visit https:\/\/grrswf.org\/ or https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GRRSWF. <\/p>\n

GOLDENFEST COMING UP<\/p>\n

Golden Retriever Rescue of Southwest Florida will host GoldenFest XVI from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Lee Health Sports Complex – Hammond Stadium, 14100 6 Mile Cypress Pkwy., Fort Myers. Open to well-behaved leashed dogs of all breeds, the free event includes vendors, a huge raffle, dog activities, live music, other entertainment and tasty fare. For details: www.grrswf.org, info@grrswf.org or 239-369-0415. <\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: A Tale of ‘Hope’ in SW Florida: How a broken pup found a golden life<\/p>\n

Reporting by Cathy Cottrill, Fort Myers News-Press \/ Fort Myers News-Press<\/p>\n

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

\"Cliff Cliff and Roxanne Smith, volunteers with Golden Retriever Rescue of Southwest Florida, adopted Hope. Local vets treated Hope’s serious injuries and the Smiths report the pup is doing well. Provided by Golden Retriever Res USA TODAY Network, Reuters <\/p>\n

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

This story was originally published November 1, 2026 at 7:12 AM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cliff and Roxanne Smith, volunteers with Golden Retriever Rescue of Southwest Florida, adopted Hope. Local vets treated Hope’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-444404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}