Shadow's Torn ACL Surgery

Shadow is a 10 and a half year old Australian Shepherd. He is a red tri, his mom was a standard and his dad was a mini. Shadow has been a very active, healthy and playful pup his whole life. His favorite thing to do has always been playing frisbee and riding in the car to see horses and cows. Recently Shadow's back legs have been weaker and he hasn't been able to run or play because his legs give out on him. After this had been going on for awhile, his back left leg started giving out completely and he would fall down in the process of just trying to go outside. He eventually started to hold up his back left leg not being able to put any weight on it at all. After realizing it was a serious matter, we took him into the vet to see what was going on. After seeing 2 different doctors and not being told what really was going on, just hearing it was arthritis or "an injury" and being given pain meds, we visited another doctor who came to the conclusion that he tore his ACL. This is a very serious matter because the ACL does not ever grow back; instead it could take up to 18 weeks for scar tissue to form around his knee and then he wouldn't have as much mobility as well as heavy arthritis would develop and he may not ever be able to play again. Along with this, a very large worry the doctor has is that Shadow's other ACL could tear in his right knee and then he very likely wouldn't be able to walk again... in that case meaning he may have to be put down. In order to fix Shadow's ACL so he can run and play again and minimize his arthritis he needs to have a $3000+ surgery. With 3 college students in the family, it's difficult to get this money so soon to help shadow. All we ask is if you could help out at all by a small donation or even just sharing shadow's story. He's a very important member in our family and we just want to see him run and play again while he's still here with us.