Did you know abnormal inter-vertebral discs are an issue for Dachshunds? These abnormal discs press into the spinal cord causing pain and spinal cord damage in around 25% of Dachshunds at some stage of their lives.
Courage isn’t just a mini-dachshunds—he’s my world.
I adopted him at 10-weeks as a rescue and, 8 years later, he has been with me by my side every day and step of the way.
Courage is an emotional support companion and has undoubtedly saved my life (and my sanity) countless times. As you can imagine I would do whatever I can to save him.
Courage was recently diagnosed with two major health complications, pneumonia and compressed spinal discs. He is in the hospital on antibiotics, muscle relaxants, and pain medicine but has no responded to the treatment.
Our veterinarian has given Courage maybe a couple to live is he does not get the surgeries.
Over those months he will be in tremendous pain, lose his ability to walk, and his lungs will fail.
When his lungs fail he will suffocate to death.
But there are two specialized surgeries for his lung and spine that not only have a high success rate, they will give him a new lease on life.
Basically, they need to put him under anesthesia, remove a lobe in one of his lungs, remove bone from his spine to alleviate pressure on his nerves, and help save his life.
With this surgery Courage will continue to be able to lead an active, playful life for years and years with minor restrictions to make sure his back is cared for.
The downside is it’s now over $12,000.
I work for a nonprofit providing education and resources in the area of nonviolent social change and I design programs that help to support youth and low-income people.
As you can imagine, no one goes into nonprofit to get rich so money is always tight for us.
Courage’s case has been reviewed by the Birchbark Foundation (THANK YOU BIRCHBARK!) and has been accepted to receive a grant to help pay for a portion of the procedure. We need your help to pay for the rest.
Unfortunately, when we sent over the new estimates we were not able to get an increase the award... so we still need to raise another $12,000.
I’ve gotten rid of my car to save as much money as possible and will have to use every penny of my savings if we cannot raise the money with your help.
Whatever you can give will help with the cost of this surgery.
Please join Team Courage and give him the gift of life.
Let’s save Courage together.
Please share the link to this page to as many people as you can, especially dog owners!
If you have any questions, please email [email redacted]
More photos and videos below!
Thanks for listening.
Sincerely,
Drew and Courage
Here is baby Courage around 8-10 weeks when he fit in my pocket.
As he got older he grew so much!
He is a snuggle bunny
But he also comes out to community events, like this neighborhood clean up. Can you find him?
He loves the beach and his favorite toys are a ball or a stick and can always find some shade if it gets too hot
Courage getting a boost by his friend to be able to see farther down the beach. Dachshund teamwork!
He flies on airplanes
And loves sticking his head out of cars (as long as it is under 30 MPH)
Everybody loves Courage. Please help us save him.
Organizer
Drew Glover
Organizer
Santa Cruz, CA