Duke is a 2-year-old Saint Bernard mix with a long life story for being such a young dog. He lived on a farm in Texas when his previous owner became suddenly ill. He was taken to a shelter and was put on the euthanasia list. Miraculously a friend of the previous owner was able to find Duke, rescue him, and bring him to California for adoption. Duke found his way to a loving young couple and was living a life of luxury with them until tragedy struck.

Duke was unfortunately hit by a large gas truck several weeks ago. Duke was rushed to a local emergency veterinary hospital, where he was diagnosed with a severely shattered left rear leg - something fixable but difficult and costly at the emergency clinic. The price quote from the emergency clinic for leg repair was a financial obligation that was too much for Duke’s young owners, so the next best option suggested was to amputate the fractured leg. The owners, wanting to do everything they could to make Duke better, transferred him to North Fork Veterinary Clinic for the amputation surgery.

Duke was in a lot of pain when he first arrived, but his tail never stopped wagging! It was quickly apparent that Duke wasn’t an average dog. He has this ability to pull on one heartstring at a time subtly, and then, before you know it, your heart belongs to him.

The evening before amputation surgery, it became apparent that there was more going on with Duke than just the shattered left leg. He wouldn’t stand on his right rear leg at all. We took more radiographs of Duke’s pelvis and right hind leg and were devastated to find his right back leg also had a fracture. Thankfully it was minor, but this minor fracture meant that amputating his left rear leg was entirely off the table. The only thing that could save Duke’s life was to plate his shattered left hind leg and cast the right one.

Long story a little shorter, an incredible veterinary surgeon accepted our call for help after a stressful few days of calling every surgeon from Reno to Sacramento. The following week his left hind leg was plated at North Fork Vet. It was such a beautiful repair! The right rear leg was cast, and less than 24 hours after surgery, Duke was trying to walk on BOTH legs again. AMAZING!!

Duke’s healing was going SO well. He was back at home with his family, who were spending most of their time tending to Duke, making sure he wasn’t being overactive and playing the part of an at-home nurse. All seemed to be right in the world, and then…

Duke’s plate broke. His big steel plate holding his shattered limb together broke completely in half. To say that everyone involved - owners, veterinary staff, the surgeon - was shocked would be the understatement of the century. Duke was the unlucky one in a million to have his plate fail him. Then the big question was asked: what now?

The surgeon gave us limited options.

1) Replate Duke’s leg with a bigger, more extended bone plate, more lag screws, and hope and prayers.

2) Cast the leg (the limb and plate are not terribly displaced), and hope and pray it heals.

3) In our minds, option three did not exist - could not exist.

The best chance Duke has to recover is to repeat the plating surgery and give him all of the prayers and positive healing vibes we can. Prayers and healing vibes are easy for the owners to find when they tell Duke’s story; funds for a major repeat surgery are a different battle.

We are asking for donations on behalf of the owners of Duke. The owners, who have done everything in their power to find the funds to support another surgery for their loving dog, need help. Repeating Duke’s surgery, re-casting the right hind limb, and weeks of hospitalized treatments and recovery will cost close to $7000 when all is said and done. Any additional contributions beyond the cost of his continued care will be given back to the owners to help them pay for the original surgery. A donation of any quantity and sharing Duke’s story with your friends and family will go a long way in helping heal Duke!

Duke deserves a second chance - please help us give it to him.