Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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  • Dr. Ray Gracon, D.V.M. looks over Cobalt at the Green Valley Animal Hospital Friday afternoon. According to Gracon, Cobalt has lost the use of his back legs and is in need of spinal surgery. Staff photo by Eric DiNovo

    Needing surgery...

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July 14, 2012

Cobalt — the coal mining dog — experiencing medical challenges

By BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph

GREEN VALLEY — Cobalt, the 3-year-old mixed breed coal-mining dog that stole the hearts of many viewers during the 10-episode run of “Coal” on Spike TV, is in need of some advanced, albeit, costly medical attention.

Sometime last week, Cobalt lost the use of both of his back legs. His caretaker, J.C. Woolridge, superintendent of Cobalt Coal’s Westchester Mine near Big Sandy, thinks it might have happened when he jumped off a porch, but Cobalt’s veterinarian, Dr. Ray Gracon of the Green Valley Animal Hospital thinks the disease may have been triggered by an event like a jump from a porch, “but it has been a long-term process getting to this point.”

Cobalt’s prognosis isn’t good. “He has a great attitude,” Gracon said. “We would like to give him a chance. Our goal is to send him to the Virginia-Maryland Region College of Veterinary Medicine on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va. That’s my alma mater.

“He needs to have CAT scans and images of his spine to see what’s going on,” Gracon said. “He’s not been improving. I’ve told Ms. (Linda) Woolridge that he has a 50 percent chance of full recovery, but time is of the essence. The longer this goes on with the pressure on his spine, the less his chances of full recovery are.”

Cobalt just showed up at the Westchester Mine a couple of years ago and was adopted by the miners. “When Mr. Woolridge asked me to look in on him on Wednesday, he said I should feed him some beef sticks. He told me that he eats what the miners eat. I took some wipes too. He had coal dust all over him.”

Woolridge said that the cost of Cobalt’s treatment in Blacksburg will be in the $2,700 to $3,000 range. “The College of Veterinary Medicine required us to pay half of that in advance,” she said. “Mr. Woolridge is asking the miners to help, and I have some collection jars out. I sold my generator (Friday) for $105, and I’m putting that into the fund for Cobalt.”

According to Ms. Woolridge, anyone who would like to help can send contributions to the Green Valley Animal Hospital at 654 Blue Prince Road, Bluefield, WV 24701. “It’s not for us,” Gracon said. “Our goal is to send him to Blacksburg where he can get the care he needs,” Gracon said.

“He’s a really, really sweet dog,” Cindy Byrd, one of the technicians at Green Valley said. “He needs a spinal tap. There’s really no change in his condition since he got here.”

“Mr. Woolridge paid his other vet bill,” Linda Woolridge, no relation, said. “When he asked me to help, Cobalt just stole my heart. He’s a coal-mining dog at heart. It’s been hard to raise up that money with just the two of us, but Mr. Woolridge plans to ask the coal miners if they can help.”

The Cobalt coal miners tied a red bandanna around Cobalt’s neck when he arrived on the scene. A film crew with Original Productions took the 80-hour new miners course, started filming the Cobalt miners at work in November 2010, and remained on site until January 2011. “Coal” premiered on March 30, 2011 and Spike TV aired 10 episodes. The series has not appeared on Spike TV since the summer of 2011.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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