This is 7 year old, Reid, and his 1.5 year old dog, Ruby. They are the best of friends, as you can see. Ruby normally waits eagerly for Reid to get home from school each day so the fun can begin! Her joy in Life is playing with Reid and the other kids and dogs who live on her quiet, dead end street. She follows them everywhere, and even waits patiently on the porch for them when they go inside to play.  She’s a Boxer/Pitbull and has the best personality traits of each breed. She's sweet and gentle with both children and dogs of all sizes. Everybody loves Ruby!
Unfortunately, Ruby's fun recently came to an abrupt end when she tore both ACLs (Anterior Cruciate Ligaments …in the knees) in her hind legs. The Vet says this was largely due to her poor limb conformation. She has very straight legs with little bend at the knee and her upper legs are disproportionately large compared to her lower legs and knees. Now, she can't do much more than go out for a pee without terrible pain, even with her painkillers. She's very sad. Her quality of life has gone downhill tremendously. She's no longer able to run, jump and play and be a dog. Surgery to repair her knees and replace the ligaments with strong, artificial ones is Ruby's only option, at the cost of $5000.00 per knee. Her whole family loves her dearly but they don't have the financial ability to cover such an expensive surgery. Please, whatever you can give helps Ruby get that much closer to being a dog again, and to getting her joy back. Thank you.