Having died at the age of 80, Dorothea Edwards left instructions with her family that her pacemaker be donated to an animal. A little-known fact is that, while U.S. federal regulations prohibit person-to-person pacemaker donations, there is no such restraint on offering the item to a dog, cat, pig or other animal that shares a human's cardiovascular arrangement. Ms. Edwards, an organ donor, understood this and made provisions to leave her pacemaker to the University of Georgia (UGA) College of Veterinary Medicine. The lucky beneficiary was "Sunshine", a 9½-year-old German Shepherd mix who has, until now, had a life's worth of hard luck.


Several years ago, Sunshine was adopted by neighbors Cindy and John Wren when the dog's home was raided by SWAT teams and the occupants were arrested for running a drug and prostitution ring. Sunshine's owner turned out to be #2 on the FBI's Most Wanted List. After that, the Wrens went to extraordinary lengths to rehabilitate the dog, both physically and mentally. But in 1998, Sunshine became very listless, lost her appetite and began fainting often. Medical examinations revealed that she had a congenital heart defect and required a pacemaker to be surgically implanted.

After several unsuccessful procedures, Ms. Edwards' life-saving legacy (a brand new, state-of-the-art pacemaker) was attached to Sunshine's heart, and the surgery was declared a complete success. Thanks to Ms. Edwards, one very excited dog is expected to live out the rest of her natural life.(Link | Photo)