Help Rocko Walko: Support His Hip Surgery

Story

We got Rocko as a 6 month old puppy from the pound. He was very playful and sweet and energetic for the first couple of months, but one day, after a round in the dog park, he limped home and cried in his bed. At first we assumed he sprained his leg and we let him rest a few days, but when the problem persisted we took him to the vet and got the bad news. Rocko had severe hip dysplasia. Most dogs who have dysplasia are only really affected when they become old and arthritic, but in rare and extreme cases it can be so bad that it affects a puppy as they are still growing. From that point on, Rocko was in too much pain to move much or play. Our options were either to have his hip replaced (a very costly procedure ~15k) or let him continue to live in discomfort, slowly lose mobility, suffer the other ill effects of the deformity and eventually have to be put down. We even have pet insurance, but they denied the claim, saying it was a pre-existing condition and that we hadn’t been insured long enough to qualify for this procedure. And so we made the very difficult and financially painful decision to pay for the hip replacement surgery out of pocket in the hopes that Rocko can live a full and more normal life. Maxing out credit cards and depleting savings to save the life of a pound puppy feels like an insane thing to do. However, seeing how much better he has gotten after his recovery and considering what the alternatives were, we have no regrets. The fact that he is such a sweet and funny boy has made this all worth it. We already had to send one dear pup over the rainbow bridge this past year, and we weren’t about to do it again. We had to cobble the money together to do this procedure as quickly as possible, so your donations will go directly to paying down the massive credit card bills we accrued. There was of course the high cost of the surgery itself, but also all of the hidden expenses of consultations, X-rays, medications, rehab equipment and simple lost work time to account for. Any help we can get from our friends and neighbors in our community would be extremely welcome and greatly appreciated. With much love and appreciation, Al and Heather (and Rocko) In order to help reach our fundraising goal and put a dent in our massive vet bills, we are organizing an art show opening on June 30th the participating artists and details on the show below. We hope you can join us! The Hip Show Monday, June 30th, 6-8pm @ Nha Minh 915 Wycoff Ave, Ridgewood, Queens, NY Atticus Kaplan Bob Szantyr Bret Shirley Charlotte Hailstone Chie Shimizu Christian Joy Dan Lucal Daniel Ray Herrera David Kennedy Cutler Eva Sakellarides Hiroshi Shafer Ian Thompson Naomi Basu Jason Grisell Jonny Campolo Matt Leines Michelle Im Nick Naber Nikholis Planck Nora Maite Nieves Toby Goodshank Will Rahilly