Abused ‘Thunder the Wonder Dog’ has died after two happy years with adoptive owner

By the end, his hair had grown back, and he no longer suffered the weeping wounds of two winters ago, when he was found wandering the coastal woods of Mendocino County, shot by his former owner and left alone to die.

Rescued by a good Samaritan who got him to medical help, and by a network of doctors and animal lovers who supported his recovery in the months to come, Thunder the Wonder Dog knew love, comfort and joy in his final years of life.

Those years came to an end on Saturday, just days after veterinary experts at U.C. Davis discovered the 9 1/2-year-old German shepherd was wracked with cancer and that nothing could be done.

Thunder died in the arms of his adoptive owner, Shasta County resident Sheryl Armstrong, who devoted the past 22 months to ensuring he was cherished and spoiled after the trauma and pain he had endured.

“I wanted every second of his life to be happy,” Armstrong said Wednesday.

His final day included tri-tip treats, a long drive and his favorite: a chance to visit some nearby cattle and bark at them from the car.

Then a visiting vet gave him a sedative that helped him go to sleep, right there in the back of the SUV, Armstrong said.

“He did not suffer. He was happy ‘till the last moment, and I got to lay down with him in his favorite cow-spotting mobile — his chariot,” she said. “I got to just love him and hold him and told him he was the most beautiful brown-eyed boy ever.”

Thunder, a large-framed animal with a dark coat, came to public attention in the days before Christmas 2019 when he was found wandering in the Jackson State Demonstration Forest, miles from the nearest home.

He was emaciated and disoriented, with bloodied and oozing wounds, and a medical cone affixed to his head that at first appeared to have flesh grown around it. Several passersby on a logging road attempted to approach him but were turned back by his fearful growling and snapping.

Then Davina Liberty, out riding her horse with a friend, dismounted and walked along side him, speaking gently. Liberty already had several rescue dogs and a miniature horse at home in Fort Bragg, and when she finally reached out to pet the wounded animal, he collapsed in her lap.

It was not clear he would survive.

But Thunder the Wonder Dog, as he was dubbed by Liberty, recovered after receiving medical care at the Mendocino Coast Humane Society, where doctors found several graze wounds and a bullet lodged in one leg. He spent five days at an emergency veterinary clinic in Santa Rosa undergoing treatment and testing funded by donors who learned of the case through his newfound, international celebrity. He was fostered for many months by Liberty, who nursed him to health.

Though a microchip embedded under his skin led to a dead-end — a Fernley, Nevada address and a disconnected phone number — Mendocino County sheriff’s investigators were able to track down more current owners in Caspar.

They learned that one of them, a woman who later would be charged criminally, had attempted to euthanize him with a handgun and failed.

Katie Rhiannon Smith eventually would plead no contest to felony animal abuse with disputed results, when a judge reduced her conviction to a misdemeanor. Smith had faced a possible $20,000 fine and three-year jail term.

For Armstrong, what matters is that Thunder not only endured, he thrived once given the chance.

Recently widowed, she had been following his story online from her home near Lassen National Park. When she learned of a failed adoption in early 2020, she just decided, “it has to be me.”

The COVID shutdown was at its height, but she arranged to stay at a Lake County motel and travel to Fort Bragg to visit with Thunder and Liberty, and was approved for the adoption that June.

When he got in her car to go home, “he wiggy wagged,and was happy as can be.”

For the remainder of his life, he had a constant companion, the run of three acres of forest, pool parties, squeaky balls, a new acquaintanceship with snow and daily trips to visit the cows and bark.

Armstrong said her heart is broken “in a thousand, trillion pieces” by the loss. But she made sure not to cry in front of Thunder in his final days, lest he try to comfort her by bringing Kong balls and dropping them at her feet.

She didn’t want to upset him when he had decided so long ago to live in joy, despite everything.

“When I adopted him, I thought he was going to be a broken down, sad boy,” Armstrong said, “and he’s been happy always. Thunder could have been sad and afraid, but he chose to be happy.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.