Rally for Sully: The Autumn Update

Scroll down to read our original fundraising ask from June,

with gorgeous words from Joanna’s dear friend, Maya

It takes an extraordinary dog to help someone live an ordinary life. It takes an extraordinary community to support a service dog team when illness arrive..

This May, service dog Sully was diagnosed with renal carcinoma. This incredibly generous community quickly rallied around him, helping raise enough funds for Sully to get the surgery, chemotherapy, and medical care he has needed to live. We’d hoped he’d be back to being an energetic, healthy, six-year-old Labrador — but he’s not out of the woods yet. This brave, affectionate, clever, helpful service dog still needs your help to keep helping his human partner, Joanna.

The surgery to remove his left kidney was successful, but the seven chemotherapy treatments were hard on him. In early September, Sully’s oncologist recommended stopping the chemo treatments and monitoring him. But pretty quickly, labwork showed that his kidney function was decreasing, and it’s been heartbreaking to see him feeling poorly as his one remaining kidney struggles to keep up. We’re now entering a chapter of Sully’s cancer story of trying to slow down the progress of chronic kidney disease, through medications (though they all have big downsides), special diet, and supportive treatments like laser-based acupuncture and hydrotherapy — all of which come with hefty price tags.

And Sully is more than a pet. As a highly trained service dog, he has been a lifeline for Joanna since they began training together in 2021. Here’s how Sully’s ‘grandmother,’ (Joanna’s mom, Leah) describes his importance:

“Sully and Joanna are a true bonded team. Being separated, even overnight for treatments, is hard on both of them. Joanna depends on her NEADS partner to provide the help she needs to lead an independent life, in spite of chronic illnesses, pain, and fatigue. She is never alone when Sully is around. On the other side of the leash, he takes great joy in picking up things for her, retrieving her meds, pressing access buttons, and accompanying her on errands, trips, and adventures, including going to work with her, until her last job ended a few weeks after his diagnosis.”

Leah continues, “As you can imagine, finances have been tight. Since May, the costs for Sully’s care and medications have surpassed $35,000. Pet insurance reimburses some of that, Joanna is applying to grants for dogs with cancer, and two crowdfunding campaigns have helped immensely. This GoFundMe has raised more than $11,000 from 150+ donors, and many of our loved ones, and even the entire oncology team, have purchased our fundraising merch that says ‘I have been licked and loved by service dog Sully.’ There’s no way to express how much this has meant to us.”

“Throughout this entire ordeal, Sully has remained his sweet, affectionate self. He continues to make friends wherever he goes, including every professional who has treated him. He continues to want to work, to go with Joanna wherever she goes. In fact, he is now going with her to rabbinical school. In no way has he given up his mission in life, or his zest for living. He has taken wonderful care of my daughter for these last four years. We want to do everything we can to take care of him, give him as many good days as possible on his journey back to health.”

And this is Joanna writing now, here in first person. When we began fundraising for Sully’s medical care, I worried that it would seem selfish or frivolous to ask for help for my service dog when there are so many major crises in the world that need our attention. But what I’ve learned over and over this summer is that Sully isn’t just my service dog — he means a lot to a whole community who are grateful for the chance to give back to him, and to support both of us. It’s humbling, and moving, and life-affirming in a really tough time. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart and from Sully’s exuberant kisses.

If you’d welcome the opportunity to add more goodness into the world, please consider contributing as generously as you’re able. To the many of you who are multiple-time givers, abundant thanks. And if you know folks who like good dogs or recognize the importance of disability service dogs - please share this fundraiser.

Want more of the story? Here's some of our original fundraiser description from June 1, written by our dear friend Maya Tobi. While you're at it, please check out her GoFundMe for her own cancer care,

Service dog Sully needs our help.

Hi, my name is Maya. I’ve known Jo, Sully’s human, for just about my whole life—but I was first licked and loved by Sully himself a couple of years ago, after I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. After helping Jo navigate the long hospital hallways in her electric wheelchair, Jo and Sully joined me for many of my lengthy chemo appointments, with Sully climbing right into the hospital bed with me. He’d lick my face and have me laughing hysterically during moments that would have been so dark without him, while bringing joy to the hardworking chemo nurses every time they entered the room. I can personally attest to Sully’s immeasurable love and affection, his unwavering desire to help, and his immense focus on ensuring that his humans are safe and comfortable at all times.

Sully’s whole world is being a helper, but now he needs us to help him too.

Sully is a five-year-old black Labrador Retriever, a highly trained disability service dog from NEADS World Class Service Dogs, and Jo’s daily lifeline. But over the last several weeks, Sully’s behavior began to change and it became clear that he was experiencing some discomfort. Jo, being the wonderful, attentive dog-companion she is, jumped into action to find out what was going on and how to fix it. Distressingly, Sully’s veterinarian discovered a mass in Sully’s left kidney, which is likely to be a renal carcinoma. He'll be having surgery tomorrow, June 3, to remove his entire kidney. Despite having pet insurance, Jo is facing thousands of dollars in veterinary bills in just the first few weeks of Sully’s treatment. His future prognosis—and what additional treatment he may need—won’t be known until after that surgery. What we do know is that continuing care will be critical, and it will be expensive.

Throughout Jo and Sully’s wonderful time together thus far, Sully has been an incredible and loving companion who gives Jo independence, safety, and support in living with disabilities. He can find and bring Jo her phone, fetch her medications, press automatic door buttons, help unload groceries, and nudge doors shut. He’s helped Jo travel across the world—from Scotland and England, to weddings and ordinations and conferences, and to the streets of Disneyland where he excitedly met Chewbacca himself. On Election Day, he was even part of a safety squad at polling places in Pennsylvania. He’s well-known at Jo’s grocery store, where he pulls bags of carrots from the produce shelves (Sully loves carrots). He is truly the epitome of a Good Boy!

When a service dog is ill, it also suddenly takes away support their human partner relies upon to live a full, independent life. As one of Jo's mentors wrote to her, "I'm so keenly aware that Sully is so much more than your dog (and a dog is already so much). You must be gutted to be without your hands and legs. This is the worst." While the core of Jo and Sully’s bond is an unbreakable mutual love and respect, Sully’s role in Jo’s life transcends that in so many ways. Helping Sully now will allow him to continue providing Jo with love, companionship, and assistance—which Sully loves to do. But while Jo focuses on Sully’s healing and what she can do to support him through this hard time, she will also have to navigate her life without relying on his usual support for her. Because as much as Sully is Jo’s Service Dog, Jo is also Sully’s Human, and Sully needs help the most right now.

Please consider helping us give Sully the chance to keep doing what he does best—helping, healing, and being the Goodest Boy in Jo’s life and in the communities that love him. Every single donation helps cover his surgery, follow-up care, and whatever treatment may come next.

Thank you for helping us fight for Sully, the amazing, loving pupper who‘s dedicated himself to helping Jo and others.