The other day I was at the vet with my dog for routine care. An animal control officer came in and talked with the people at the front desk. I couldn’t hear the conversation. But a few minutes later a young girl came into the vet’s office with a Chihuahua mix on a leash dragging one of his legs.

I found out later that the dog had been hit by a car “weeks” ago. Animal control was contacted because someone saw the dog get hit.

The girl with the dog was planning to have him put to sleep because she couldn’t afford vet care. So much time had passed since the dog had been hit by the car that animal control issued a mandatory notice for the dog to be treated that same day when I was there. Unfortunately, animal control considers euthanasia (putting an animal to sleep) to be treatment.

I explained to the girl with the dog that there are groups that will help pay for vet care. But because the dog needed to receive care that day and she hadn’t made any attempts to find care before that day, finding financial help wasn’t an option.

My heart broke for the poor dog who was obviously in pain. I just couldn’t sit by and let a 4-year-old healthy dog get put to sleep because of a broken leg. So I told the girl that I would take care of the vet treatment if she surrendered the dog to me.

The girl eventually surrendered the dog to me (in writing) with the help of the vet staff. The vet was planning to take xrays and put a splint on the leg until he could determine what care was needed.

It turns out that the leg and hip were were too badly injured for a splint. The vet said that the leg would need to be amputated and the vet needed to wait until a surgeon was there to amputate the leg.

So the dog was put in medical boarding with a cone on his head so he could rest and get pain medication.

The leg was amputated today. The dog also hadn’t been neutered so I asked if the surgeon could neuter the poor dog while the leg was being amputated.

I will pick up the dog on Monday since he can’t be moved for a couple of days after having such a big surgery.

My bill is $4500. Yes, I offered. I took this on myself. But I think that most of you would have done the same thing.

If anyone is willing and able to contribute to the vet costs, I would be extremely grateful. Obviously the number of other animals that I can help is severely limited by having one big vet bill like this.

Any amount is helpful.

I know that I have said before that “this is the last time” and I mean it. And then there is a situation that is too awful to walk away. Also, I found out that I wasn’t even supposed to be at the vet that day – I accidentally showed up for my appointment on the wrong day.

I renamed the dog James Bond because he has been through quite a difficult experience.

Thanks so much to everyone. I will also be looking for a foster home for him since my house is already at capacity.