Hello everyone,

This poor girl showed up at my best friend's doorstep and waited until someone got home on Tuesday night covered in her own blood. We noticed that she had bite marks all over and other miscellaneous cuts and wounds. We were mainly concerned with the fact that her left ear is about 3-4 times the size of the other. The night she was found we took her to an emergency animal hospital to check for a chip and get professional opinions. She was scanned and did have a chip, but unfortunately from what it seems she may have been in a shelter recently and the previous owner may have gotten her for the wrong reasons, been mean to her, and not correctly caring for her. The chip came back with only a first name and last initial with no address or contact info. We have also posted her in multiple local lost pet groups on Facebook with no luck. Even the vet mentioned that there would never be a reason that you would put a name but no contact, unless they were made to when adopting her and didn't want to be located if she was found. The chip did tell us that her name was Darla, but we have since changed her name to Marley, as it didn't seem she even knew her own name yet. They believe her to be a 2-3 year old Pitbull who was used for breeding at one point in time, but she has recently been spayed, as her hair is still missing and the tattoo is fresh.

On Wednesday morning I took her to an animal clinic to get her better examined. They told me that she has a chronic ear infection and the bites/wounds to her ears have caused a hematoma in her left ear and that it is one of the worst cases that they have seen (this has been going on for at least a few weeks before we found her). While at the clinic, they drained her ear and gave me a medication/steroid paste to put in her ears and hoped it would help. They also told me that it may or may not refill after drainage. Unfortunately, by the end of the day yesterday she was back to having her ear all swelled up and full of blood. She is in lots of pain at the moment and struggles to hold her head up or even be able to lay her head down comfortably in her current state. I took her to a different well-known animal clinic in the area today (Thursday) to get another opinion, and to see if they could maybe drain her ear again to relieve the pain. They told me that it is likely this could last months and months without surgery and that surgery may be our only route to take to ensure that she ever fully heals and her ear doesn't split open in the meantime. They also stated that she has a fever and is now getting an infection in her other ear. Without treatment she could die from an infection if it spreads to her blood.

I am not typically someone to ask for any sort of financial help, but I am in between jobs right now, and I don't have the income to pay for her surgery. I cannot send her to a forever home in the condition she is in. I also will not drop her at a shelter as many have suggested, because being a pitbull it is likely she would wait a long time before being adopted and she may end up in a similar situation. Regardless, I am not going to let this poor girl suffer for months until I am fully back on my feet, so I have decided to put the medical bills onto my credit card so that she can get the help she needs and feel better. She is scheduled to go into surgery tomorrow morning (2/7/25 - See attached surgical quote photo). They will be putting her under anesthesia to open her ear and remove all the clotting and infection causing the swelling. She will then be stitched up and have a few weeks of a recovery period before the stitches can be removed. She is one of the sweetest and most loving dogs that I have gotten the pleasure to meet, and she wants nothing but to be petted and loved on.

I understand that not everyone may be in a position to help me, but even a share would be much appreciated! I cannot let her continue to suffer. I have already accumulated some medical bills from our multiple visits to the vet, but the surgery is my main concern. Without this surgery she risks her ear splitting open, and then we would have no other choice but to do surgery then, and her pain in the meantime would be excruciating, which is where we are now. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read Marley’s story! Any contributions or even a share is much appreciated!

(I’ve linked photos of her and her ear below)