Give Atlas a Chance for a Long, Healthy Life.

This is our boy Atlas. He is 7 years old with the most love any dog has to give. He was rescued from Sammy's Hope animal shelter 5 years ago. Atlas came from a drug den where he was used as a fighting dog. After years of care, rehabilitation, and unapologetic fawning over him, he has become the sweetest, most caring boy, who loves to get belly rubs and be on a lap! Atlas also loves to chew on his wish bone that is 2x bigger than the size it should be and eating doggy ice cream.

On Saturday, Atlas was rushed to the hospital to receive a blood transfusion. During all of this we learned his red blood cells are destroying themselves. Atlas can have one of two things. He could have an autoimmune disease which impacts the rest of his life, how he lives it, and our lives. This would require weekly visits, transfusions, medication and more.

The second thing it could be, is an infection most commonly found in American Pitbull terriors. The infection is kept dormant by his spleen, which he no longer has. He would have contracted this infection when he was a puppy used for fighting/as a bait dog. After a long night of blood transfusions, medications, and the uncertainty of what was going on behind closed doors we are left hopeless. We cannot treat him for an autoimmune before we rule out the possibility of this infection. Unfortunately, we need to wait for the test to come back from North Carolina (10 business days). For now, we are treating him for this infection because it's the safer option.

We don't like asking anyone for handouts, but this is bigger than us and bigger than our pride for being independent. Some adults have kids, we chose to have an Atlas and wouldn't wish it any other way. Any donation that could be made would be greatly appreciated. We would like to thank everyone for taking the time to read this and thank you for your support/donations.