I am wondering if anyone knows of a charity that specifically helps owners pay for Dog Surgery?? When my dog was two she tore her ACL twice. We were fortuante to be able to pay the $3,000 Vet Bill for both legs. I have a friend who is planning on putting down his dog due to the $2,000 vet bill. Does anyone know of any organization that helps with this?? I tried to google and came up with little??

Thanks!

You may want to try searching on rescue organizations for the dog's specific breed and see if they can help. Its a stretch since most won't pay for any medical care unless they have rescued and are trying to adopt out. Your friend can also try his local no kill animal shelter. They may be able to recommend him to a vet that will perform the surgery at a reduced rate. If he rescued the animal to begin with, he could also try where he adopted from.

I have a Katrina rescue that had numerous health issues when he arrived in NJ and the rescue did not want to pay for any treatment. Fortunately for me, my vet is a caring and wonderful man and didn't charge me for anything other that his costs - it still cost me over $2000 though.

Please please please tell your friend to find a local rescue that may be willing to take the dog before he decides to put him down. Also, if his vet isn't willing to reduce the rate or give him a payment plan, try another and another - I'm not sure where your friend is located or the age, health of the dog, but I would switch vets in a heartbeat if mine was going to allow me to put my dog down for an ACL tear because I couldn't afford it...

Okay - off my barking soap box now.....

Hope this information helps.....

Can you tell all my "kids" are rescued and i'm a bit fanatical about it....

I used to work at a humane society and we used to get calls about this type of thing all the time. We did not have our own vet and did not have the funds to help people out unfort. We were very small.

We actually had no where to refer people to because we didn't know of any place that paid the bill. Sometimes if you have a good relationship with your vet they work with you on the payment thing but still...not everyone can afford to make payments either.

But def. try a different vet. I understand though if they can't or don't want to try to make payments. It's a lot of money. and even though I was one that paid for my dog to have 3 bladder stone surgeries over 10 years and flew 4 birds in an airplane cabin across country and back, I would never think less of someone who made a different decision. (not saying you are doing that, just saying, we had to be very non judgemental working at the HS)

Hugs and I hope it works out.

I am judging my friend for not fixing his dog. I have done the surgery twice and it cost me well over $3,000. He sees it differently. I love his dog probably more than he does.

oh..well then...why don't you offer to pay for surgery and adopt the dog?

I have done a ton of stuff for my dogs and other pets believe me, my lab was the million dollar dog but over 14 years and the cost was spread out. My cockatiel's tail (feathers, buthe whole thing) broke off after he landed funny and he had surgery to glue/stitch it back on (ripped at the fat level below the skin, yuck, the vet said it happens sometimes)

But if it was $3000 all at once I would have had to put him to sleep (or my bird). I don't have that kind of money laying around, my kids have to eat, they come first in the end. oh, i forgot about the hip surgery he had too btw... If it happened now I wouldn't be able to afford it at all.

Hope it works out but don't judge your friend if it doesn't.

Moy

Please let me apologize if I sounded judgmental -that wasn't my intent, but unfortunately I guess I am a bit ..... I definitely view my 3 as family not pets, but I know that many people don't - and it sounds like your friend doesn't. I'm also very lucky that I would be able to afford to take care of them if the need arose, but that's not the case for everyone. What I was really trying to say is that so many people are quick to abandon or put down their pets if they can't find an easy solution to their problem and if this dog is in good health otherwise, there may be a creative solution. I would absolutely get in touch with every vet in your town or breed rescue in the area. A good vet will try to help - even if it's to take the animal permanently and try to find it a new home. A breed rescue/no kill shelter may be willing to take the dog also.

I hope it all works out ....... Please keep up updated

OMG I feel so bad for him. That has to be a horrible position to be put in. I am the mommy of two labs ,my babies,my choc is Chewie and my black is Vader. They are 9 years old and we have had our share of vet bills. I have had health problems for the last four years and my vet has been wonderful to us. I would probably go bankrupt before I put one to sleep. Our vet's love the animals so much and know much they mean to us. Money never comes first! They have put us on payment plans. So if his vet is more interested in money FIND ANOTHER ONE!!!!!!! I would love to know of a organization that helps people with the financial burdens so they don't have to resort to putting thier babies to sleep. Those are my kind of people!!! Don't give up, keep asking around, somebody with come up with an answer.

I'll try to leave my personal feelings aside here except to say that when you bring a pet into your home, you make a life long committment to that pet. They can not care for themselves; that is what you promised to do when you brought them into your life. Anyway...

I have not heard of such an organization that helps individuals. I know there is at least one organization that will help rescues pay for some things. I think your friend's dog's best hope is that your friend will surrender him to a rescue where he will be taken care of. He/she will not be able to have the dog back, obviously, but at least the dog will be alive. Our rescue has seen it all (and then some), and we have taken dogs who have required expensive surgeries and their owners couldn't or didn't want to pay for it. Our primary goal is to ensure the health and well being of the dog, and we do whatever needs to be done.

It may be possible for your friend to work out a payment plan with his vet's office, but most offices nowadays will not do that unless they have a very good relationship with the patient. If the vet is made aware of the fact that your friend is considering killing his dog rather than pay the bill, he may be willing to work something out, or he could contact a rescue on your friend's behalf.

I also have spent thousands of dollars at once (2 cruciate surgeries too!) and several hundred dollars at a time, several times over, for my dogs without hesitation. We are a family of four on one income (a teacher's salary no less), but there is no question - we will do what needs to be done. Period.

Moydear, I urge your friend to contact as many rescues in your area as possible in the hope that one of them has the foster space available to help this poor dog

-Lisa

Lisa

I agree with you 100%. When you bring a pet home, you become their advocate, their caregiver, their protector and their voice... In return they give you unconditional love. Definitely not a 50/50 deal IMO. Its not a sometime's job and its not one you should quit because it doesn't fit any longer.

Moy, i hope your friend does surrender the dog and there is a good ending to this story.... I'm practically ready to say i'll adopt myself.... (can't but want to...)

BTW Lisa - I went to your site and its wonderful. I have a 7 yr old Husky (Moo) and he is the smartest, sneakiest and slyest guy. He was 5 months when we adopted him and had been beaten, neglected and abused by his previous owner. He weighed 16 lbs and cowered or growled when ever anyone came near him. The owners said he was uncontrollable and kept him locked in an empty closet - no food - no water - no toys etc... It took two years to get him to 40 lbs and to not be scared. His growth was stunted so he is on the small side (down to about 35-37 lbs now and won't gain), but what he lacks in physical size, he makes up for in spirit - He's the king of the house and we all know it - fortunately, he allows the rest of us to live here! I attached a pic of him - looking very angelic.... (or at least i tried to...)


PS - I think I'll be making some purchases....

I second that about giving it to a rescue group. They might be do the surgery and then adopt him to a new family. We just adopted a dog from a rescue, he had been given up due to having cherry eye. They did the surgery (twice actually) and we adopted him.

He has other issues actually but we are working on those. : )

Two words: Pet Insurance

Now as for the friend that doesn't want to pay that amount of money even though he has it, that is too bad.

A co-worker of mine has 3 bull mastifs, one of them decided to eat some stuff that he shouldn't of (twice), well after a very expensive vet bill or two, he bought the pet insurance. Well, needless to say that same dog ate something else that he wasn't supposed to and my co-worker was very glad to have the pet insurance.

I worked in a vet clinic for three years, and went to A&M as a prevet major. I don't think there are any places that do discount surgeries or charity type work. Even the vet school only gave small discounts for students.
Not all vets take insurance. I worked for 4 vets in Plano, TX (nice Dallas suburb), and none of them did. It's been 4 years since I've worked in one, but most around here didn't take it.
My personal opinion-vet bills are ridiculous. They charge way way more than they should.

In the UK we have Blue Cross for animals and PDSA which both help people who can't afford animal treatment. I hope you find something to help your friend. In defence of VETS - I worked in one for six months and they really don't make that much money, they work very anti-social hours and often have to deal with very rude or over-demanding humans.

It might be different in the US. The vets I worked for were very well off, and charged about 250% more than their supplies, and then for labor, and for things like "day stays".

He broke down and is getting her leg fixed! YAY!

That's good news to hear!

Moy - This is the best news i've had all week! I'm so happy to hear your friend made this choice...

As far as overcharging vets - yes - they are out there, but so are loving and caring vets who will bend over backwards to help their patients. My vet has been more than giving with all 3 of my dogs. He's charged me only his costs for many things, has made house calls and is the first one to say - don't worry about the cost, we'll work something out. I just thought I should share the other side of the story....