I'm Meghan, a dog-lover, a dog-mom, and a dog-handler at dog kennel. I'm raising funds for Jesus, yes you read that right. Same name as the Lord and Savior, expect he's a 7 year old Alaskan Husky from a kennel in Chugiak, Alaska.

Jesus needs knee surgery due to two torn cranial cruciate ligaments in both hind legs. His right leg is the worst, and unfortunately, one surgery alone costs $6,000. My hope is that starting with this first surgery will help him regain mobility and get him as close as possible to his happy, active self again.

A little bit about Jesus: he's part of the Spanish litter and was originally name Jesús (hey-soos). As a puppy, he was incredibly hyper, mouthy, and jumpy (truthfully, pre-knee injury he was still like that as a 7-year old), he's the kind of dog that would have you exclaiming "Jesus!" every time you interacted with him. The name stuck, and it fits him perfectly.

As a sled dog Jesus was like the energizer bunny, endless energy with a beautiful trot, he just kept going and going and going. Unfortunately, a few years ago during a run, his left foot got caught under a hidden root, which abruptly ended his long-distance running career.

This year, like many years in the past, we started running him with the rest of the team to help keep him in shape. He looked incredible, smooth gait, strong stride, and even leading. One day though, he had an off run, and we couldn't tell why. As a stoic husky, Jesus never showed pain, and there were no obvious signs something was wrong.

But the next day, his demeanor changed. Jesus stopped eating and barely put weight on his right leg, which surprised us because it wasn't his original injury. My guess is that the pain became so severe that he grew unusually docile and reluctant to stand, completely unlike the dog we know. Fearing the worst, I took him to the vet worried it was something more serious, like cancer.

I learned Jesus likely tore his left knee during his original root injury years ago, and years of overcompensation led to a tear in his right knee, the one now causing the most pain. Two torn ACLs have taken away the thing he loves most: being active and crazy.

This type of knee surgery is expensive, and while the kennel supports nearly 40 dogs, this is more than they can manage. I've adopted Jesus and while asking for help doesn’t come easily I've recently been laid off, and need help giving Jesus a chance to heal and live comfortably.