Vets Install Pacemaker to Save Life of Search-and-Rescue Dog

A search-and-rescue dog named Molly, who has spent countless hours helping authorities, is now being rescued herself.

On Thursday, surgeons at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine installed a pacemaker in the chocolate Labrador retriever's heart. The 5-year-old pup needed the surgery after being diagnosed with a complete electrical heart blockage.

Owners Allen and Alicia Brown were overwhelmed with offers to help pay the more than $2,500 in surgery, vet and travel costs after a newspaper reported on Molly's need for the pacemaker.

A medical technology company donated the device, and a Kansas businessman offered to anonymously pay up to $2,000 of the cost.

"It surprises me greatly," Allen Brown said. "There's just been such an outpouring of public support for her."