Dog the Bounty Hunter: A&E Canceled Handicapped Kids' Dreams As Well As Bounty Hunter's Show

Dog the Bounty Hunter's good side was always apparent for his many fans--if emails and comments to recent stories are any guide. But that side of Duane "Dog" Chapman was also apparent to a 15-year-old handicapped boy who got his wish to meet the Dog recently.

Dog's soft heart showed through his rough exterior for Judi McLeod of the Canada Free Press. Read her excellent article about Dog making a handicapped boy's wish come true in "A&E Kills The Dreams of Handicapped Youngsters by Pulling Bounty Hunter Off the Air". As she put it:

[L[ost in this latest chapter is what Duane Chapman the man really is: generous to a fault and an inspiration to people who rarely find it elsewhere.

This time last year, television’s celebrated bounty hunter was making wishes come true for 15-year-old Steve Eltz, who after a long history of surgery and medical procedures, including treatment for cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus, seizures and orthopedic problems, got to meet his hero, Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Steve’s tale is the story of a perpetually playful lad, who’d much sooner be down at the local creek catching tadpoles with his pal D.J. than back in hospital for yet another operation. It is the story of a youngster under the most discouraging of circumstances still trying to tease his sister, Laura when he thinks she could use a little cheering up.

The story relates how Dog chipped in to help make the lad's life a little happier.

In any case, with setbacks that would discourage even the most courageous of adults, Steve Eltz, kept alive the dream of someday, somehow meeting face-to-face with his hero.

“Dog the Bounty Hunter has been Steven’s hero for ages,” said his Mom Barbara Eltz. “And it’s noteworthy that it was really the repeated failure of the shunt that controls his hydrocephalus that led to his neurosurgeon completing an application for the Make-A-Wish process.”

So when the Make-A-Wish Foundation offered to grant Steven any wish he wanted, you can be sure it was to meet Dog the Bounty Hunter. Not only did young Steven get to meet Dog face-to-face, he made a new friend for life in the Dog-admiring, 7-year-old DJ.

In an imagination fired up by long lonely hours in his room, Steven was no longer confined to a wheelchair but out there catching the bad guys with Dog.

Since Steven loves everything about Dog the Bounty Hunter, it came as no surprise that Dog’s wife, Beth is Steven’s all-time favourite poster girl.

“Beth--I have a crush on her!” Steven `fessed up soon as Dog was introducing him to the cast.

Dog of the big-as-Texas heart, laughingly put the suitor into an instant “headlock’. Worries about his next operation flew out the window, as Steven became a suitor taken seriously.

The rest of this great story is at the Canada Free Press. Steve, despite his physical ailments got to meet his hero, Dog the Bounty Hunter.

But Steve might be the last. A&E canceled Dog the Bounty Hunter, but they also canceled the chances of other Steves to make their wish come true.

Maybe Arts and Entertainment will change their minds. A lot of handicapped children might wish for that also.

As the furor over the whole affair begins to subside, the only voices we hear are the ones of the Dog's many fans. We hear them everyday in the hundreds of comments they leave and the emails they write. They pretty much speak with one voice.

And that voice is saying, "Bring back the Dog".

by Mondoreb
[image: canadafreepress]

[NOTE: DBKP has been letting our Dog coverage dampen down a bit over the weekend. It seems that the Bounty Hunter is laying low. We figured that wasn't a bad move. But we saw this story and thought it was as good a place to start back up for this week of Thanksgiving. Dog's fans hope they have one more thing to be thankful for come Thursday.]

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