Julie, our beloved Pomeranian, has been a cherished part of our family for years. She’s always been full of energy and joy, joining us on daily walks and bringing happiness to our home. Recently, our lives were turned upside down when Julie was attacked by a large dog whose owners had accidentally left their gate open. My wife and daughter were out for a walk with Julie and our other dog when the attack happened. It was a terrifying experience—my wife did everything she could to protect our daughter and the dogs, but Julie was badly injured. The owners of the other dog initially promised to cover the costs, but they were only able to pay a portion, leaving us with a significant amount to cover on our own.

Julie needed emergency care and now requires debridement surgery to help her wounds heal properly. Since the attack, she’s been much more withdrawn and fearful, especially around other dogs. She’s eating less, and it’s heartbreaking to see her unable to enjoy the walks she once loved. Our family is doing everything we can to support her recovery, but the financial burden of her medical care is more than we can manage alone.

We’re reaching out for help to cover the costs of Julie’s surgery and ensure she gets the treatment she needs to heal and regain her happiness. Any support would mean the world to us and help Julie get back to the joyful life she deserves.

Below is the whole story for anyone who is really interested in helping us.

I am asking for help to pay for a surgery that our family dog will need to have this week.

The story is a little sad and frustrating at the same time, but I know that unfortunately it still happens a lot due to negligence and lack of attention from many owners, especially of large dogs. My wife and daughter went for a walk with our two dogs around the neighborhood as usual. My daughter is 9 years old and my dogs are already 9 and 13 years old. They had just left the house and just a block away, a large dog whose owners had forgotten to lock the gate saw my family with the small dogs and ran towards them. My daughter started to scream in fear because the dog was coming towards her, so my wife stood in front of her and asked her to try to climb somewhere and hide. My wife managed to hold one of the dogs, and when she went to get the other dog, the large dog knocked her to the ground. The dog grabbed Julie, our Pomeranian, by the back and bit part of her butt. My wife managed to open the dog's mouth and he let go, but immediately he went back to biting her back, making a big hole. The owners appeared a few minutes later while the dog was still attacking. The owner managed to counter the animal, so my wife got up from the ground and managed to enter a closed yard with the help of a neighbor. From there, the four were safe from the large dog. My wife called me and told me that they had been attacked and that we needed to urgently take Julie to the hospital. The dog's owners apologized and said they would pay the costs of the incident.

We arrived at the hospital that the neighbor who helped us get to a safe place recommended to us. My wife explained the case as soon as we arrived at the hospital. I said that she had been bitten and what I could see was on her back; however, I asked them to check everything because there could be more bites that we had not seen. We arrived around 5:30 pm and they returned Julie to us around 1:30 am. During the time she was there, they gave us an estimate of the costs, which would be around $1,800.00. We asked them to contact the owner of the dog, who had said, as I wrote above, that she would pay the costs. Then the person in charge of finances told us that she could only pay $900, that there was no more money than that. This left us very disappointed and somewhat angry, because in addition to Julie's cruelty and the pain she was feeling, my daughter was traumatized and would not stop crying. My wife was devastated because she could not defend our animal. Without thinking about whether I had enough or not, I did not hesitate to pay the remaining amount so that they could do all the necessary procedures so that Julie would feel better and stop suffering. Julie's back was stitched up and there was a drain in the area so that any type of pus or secretion could drain out, because when it comes to dog bites, the vast majority of them get infected. We left hours later; Julie was still under the effects of anesthesia and we brought a lot of medicine. When we got home, we let her rest, and around 2:30 my wife tried to take her to pee in the back of the house where it is fenced and safe. When we tried to pick her up, Julie got nervous and cried a lot. We went to check to find out what was happening and we noticed that the hospital had forgotten to check Julie's thigh and there was another bite there. We immediately went back to the hospital and asked them to check that area of her leg more closely because we had seen two holes. We waited a little while and the nurse came back with Julie in her arms saying that they had shaved that area and that it was a superficial bite. I asked if they needed to do anything in that area and she said no, they would close it up. We believed that this alone was enough, as we were supposedly in one of the best animal hospitals in the city.

From then on, the drain would be removed in 4 days, and the stitches would be removed 14 days later, and everything would start to get back to normal. We gave her medication at the exact times she was supposed to be given, and we made sure she felt as comfortable as possible during those days. On Tuesday, May 27, my wife took Julie to have the drain removed as agreed and to check that everything was okay. After a few minutes, the nurse came back and said that the drain would not be removed, that Julie's leg had been scraped where the bite had healed because there had become a major infection (to our surprise, since up until then she had said it was superficial).

Where the bite had been, there were two large holes with pus coming out. The doctor asked us to take Julie to a clinic from that moment on so that a veterinarian could monitor the case more closely. This day cost us more medication and $93.20. My wife left the hospital very sad and immediately called a clinic to schedule another appointment for 05/29 so she could tell us what to do from then on. The day of the appointment arrived and the doctor said that her leg was very injured and she couldn't see well and that she should continue giving her the medications and that the drain would only be removed on Monday 06/02. She was a veterinarian, so I didn't hesitate to do what she had told me. On Friday night, the day after the appointment at the clinic, the wound, which I was told to clean and apply compresses to 3 to 4 times a day, began to open the skin above the drain. I took pictures and sent them to the vet. On Saturday, she replied and said that there was no way I could take Julie to the clinic because she would not have any free time to see us. We were disappointed, so she told us to take our dog again to the same emergency room as the first appointments. After thinking about it for a while, we took her to the hospital again. At the clinic, we had spent $117.03. When we got to the hospital, they told us that they would have to remove the drain and that the skin had also become infected. They gave us the option of having surgery there to remove the dead skin and redo the stitches or taking her to the vet again and seeing if she could do the surgery for less. That day we paid an additional $654.48, and if we had done the surgery, we would have had to pay more than $4k. We had no choice but to wait and take her to the clinic again on Monday, 06/02, as that appointment was already scheduled. We spent Sunday monitoring the wounds, and on Monday morning Julie went in for another appointment. The doctor said she could do the surgery but there was no room for that week and that Julie needed a quick surgery this week. She tried to contact some more affordable hospitals regarding payment, so she managed to get an appointment for that same day. My wife took Julie again and waited in the urgent care of that hospital for more than 4 hours. She was seen and the doctor said she could do the surgery and that it would cost between $647.12 and $1127.35. Even though we had no way to get more money, we paid 40% of the highest price, which cost $483, to guarantee the surgery for the next day (06/03). We spent the rest of the day worried about the surgery. We separated the medicines she would need at the hospital and ate until 10 pm. On the morning of March 6th, we were supposed to arrive at the hospital at 7:30. We checked in and the receptionist grabbed Julie and said that my wife should wait because the doctor wanted to talk to her. After a few minutes, the doctor said that she would not perform the leg surgery because she did not have much experience with bite wounds, because her skin would have to be pulled back and could open again. She said that there was another very experienced doctor at the same hospital and that with her we would have more success in preventing the skin from opening again. She said that I had two options: to have the back wound done today with her and the leg wound done this week with this other doctor, or to have both done together on another day, but that all this change would cost much more. I did not agree to do it twice, because I would be putting Julie at risk with two anesthetics. So I asked for an estimate for another day (very frustrated by the way) that would go from $1127.35 to $4393.75. We are desperate because we do not have all this money right away and our Julie needs surgery. That is why we are here, to ask for the collaboration of anyone who can contribute even the smallest amount, something that will not be missed by you. Your help will help us pay for the surgery and anything else that may come up.