ADVENTUROUS EMMY NEEDS ACL SURGERY

As you can see, Emmy is an energetic and sweet family member. We adopted her from a local Western North Carolina shelter 5 years ago and believe she is a 6.5-7 old English Pointer and Labrador mix. She loves to hike with us around WNC, play in the rivers and creeks, catch snowballs, chase us downhill when we go snow tubing, long walks on the beach, car rides, playing with other dogs, and even hanging out with her cat. She is sweet to children and the elderly and a protector of her girls. Unfortunately, Emmy was exploring in her yard on a rock embankment and tore her ACL.

When we adopted Emmy, our goal was to give her a better life than she had known and shower her with love. We're confident we have done that. She has gone from a fearful dog to a playful and snuggly companion. But we would feel we were not giving her our best now if we didn't ask for help for Emmy. Sarah at Appalachian Animal Hospital diagnosed Emmy with the complete ACL tear. Our quotes started around $4600 and went up to $5400. This, however, is not in the budget for a single-income household working two jobs along with a high-school senior about to go to college. Yet Emmy is still too young and energetic to suffer from a body that can't keep up with her mind. It is our understanding that without the surgery, her leg will not be functional, and it will just be a matter of managing the pain, which while it will decrease over time, so will her muscles atrophy on that side, and the other leg will likely suffer a similar fate in time from having to compensate for this non-functioning leg. We've been told that there is a 90% success rate with ACL repairs for dogs this young and in such good shape with strong muscle tone like Emmy has. The recovery will require at least 2 months of being confined to a small space, no getting up to her favorite chair, and short leash walks outside only. Between the 2 of us, we can provide the attention and care Emmy needs to recover.

We have already applied to some programs for financial assistance and are confident that with some more help we can get Emmy the surgery she deserves. Any amount helps and will go directly toward covering the surgery. A special account has been set up just for Emmy. Even if you can’t donate, sharing this page with friends and family can make a huge difference. The more people who know about Emmy’s story, the more likely we are to reach our goal.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read Emmy's story,

Melissa & Isabella Zerbarini