Hi, my name is Potato. I am a one-year-old rescue from Mexico living in Los Angeles with my mom and best friend, Mikaela. My mom is a doctoral graduate student at UCLA. She got me when I was nine weeks old after someone tried to drown me and my siblings. Mom works very hard with me on my anxiety, and I try to be the bravest boy, but I still get scared every now and again.

On March 5, 2024, I got spooked while we were walking and took off running through a busy road in Los Angeles. Mom chased me all the way home, but I kept running because I couldn’t get in and was so scared. I was lost for about an hour running through the city. She drove around looking for me, but I ran too far for her to find me and too far to find my way back. I ran three and a half miles away from home until two angels found me lying under a staircase covered in blood. They called my mom, and she came to get me right away and took me to the animal hospital. I was so happy to see my mom.

Based on my injuries, the doctors think I was hit by a car and slid across the road. I have multiple deep lacerations on my face, legs, and feet; a lot of bruising; and chest contusions (bruising/bleeding in my lungs). I also wore my paw pads down to the point of being raw and my nails down to the quick from running. I had two laceration surgeries (the first with anesthesia and the second with sedation). The surgeon said my first surgery was very involved because there were a significant amount of dirty wounds.

My mom is fundraising to help pay for the costs of my medical care, which are expected to be over $4,000 after insurance. My first two surgeries/visits were extremely expensive, and I need to have frequent bandage changes in-hospital for the next few weeks while under sedation. Mom had to apply for an emergency credit card to help pay for my medical care, and the credit limit wasn’t enough to cover all of my medical care. Mom does have pet insurance, luckily, but it’s the lowest level of reimbursement and the highest deductible. Because my care is very expensive, mom will end up paying around $4,000 of her own money. Insurance gave my mom a claim processing window of up to 25 days, so currently, every expense is out of pocket.

Mom and I want to give a special thank you to Kallan and Sierra for finding me and to all the strangers who helped, including the gentleman who picked mom up, drove after me, and then continued to drive around looking for me; as well as the staff and owner of Dog PPL for keeping a vigilant eye and calling to check-in.

Anything helps. Mom and I thank you with all our hearts.

Sincerely,

Potato and Mikaela