Help needed for Jack's vet bill

On Sunday, July 11th, my neighbors, the only other family who live on our road, accidentally hit my dog Jack as they were rushing to an event while he and my other dogs were playing in the front yard. We rushed him to the emergency vet where they were able to stabilize him but they were not able to save his broken leg and so his right rear leg was amputated. The vet bill was over eight thousand dollars.

Jack is a 4 year old very loving kelpie dog with three great loves: barking, herding and wandering over large landscapes seeking adventure. He and his two Aussie sisters are my trusted companions, as they travel back and forth with me from Washington where I have a home and Utah where I work. Jack is the goofy one of my trio, with his constant excitement about everything and his ability to walk backwards. I will miss that more than I can say.

My dogs aren't just my pets, nor are they fur babies. They are my partners as I go through this life and without them I would be lost and very lonely. In addition to the vet bill, I am going need to build a fence around part of my yard in order to keep Jack and his siblings safe. As one of my other dogs is deaf, I now find myself with two special needs dogs, and I need to make sure they are both safe.

It was just an instant of time, when two things collided in the same space at the same time, but the impact of it with be lifelong. Jack now lives in what I call "another country". When I had my heart attack eight years ago, the only way I could make sense of it was to think of it as living in another country: you are still alive, but the rules have changed. This is now Jack's reality. He will need to learn to do everything differently, and he will never be able to run with complete freedom.

Asking for money is hard for me, but my reality is that between the vet bill and the fence, I am looking at well over ten thousand dollars for Jack's accident. I need help, because while I was able to get a six month contract to pay the remaining vet bill, I will not be able to make the payments alone.

Thank you all for caring about Jack and me.