In early March, when the crew of the National Geographic Venture was tied up in San Carlos, Baja, the world's most excellent dog appeared on the dock. He was malnourished, chewed up and in bad sorts. The crew of the Venture rallied around the pup and he stayed with us, sleeping under the gangway every night to greet and stretch with us every morning. Collectively everybody worked together to bring Bandito Sebastian Venture back to full health.

When the ship was getting ready to leave San Carlos we all worked together to find him a home where he could live comfortably. John Mitchell, along with my partner Shauna and me, orchestrated to rescue Bandito and bring him to Seattle, Washington.

Bandito made it to Vashon Island, where he became infatuated with squirrels (a new animal to him), all the new smells and a loving family of many different people. Wherever Bandito goes, people immediately remark how amazing of a dog he is. He has been spending time in Issaquah at Shauna's family's house, staring through the windows, avidly studying squirrel behavior.

Unfortunately, last month we began to notice a strange discharge from his nose. We were concerned, so we took him to the vet. At first, the vet was unsure of the problem but thought it was a tick-born illness called "Ehrlichiosis," which was later confirmed. His lymph nodes were also very swollen, so they took a sample of the mass on his neck, which turned out to be cancer. He was diagnosed with a type of transmissible venereal cancer.

Luckily, the prognosis is very good with treatment. Bandito's first chemo session will be on August 17th. Of course, these types of treatments are costly, and we will continue helping this great pup enjoy his new life. We will cover it and give him his best shot to continue thriving, but any financial help would be incredibly appreciated.

Essentially, the main cost we hope to fundraise for is his four rounds of chemotherapy. Each round of chemo is going to cost around $900.00. There will undoubtedly be unforeseen costs, but if we can get financial help covering his chemo treatments, that would be amazing.

Let's get this pup back to his squirrel-chasing ways!