Help Teacher fund dog's ACL surgery!

Frida completely tore her ACL and needs surgery!

I have taught high school mathematics in DC schools for the past 9 years. Mainly Geometry and Algebra 2 with Trigonometry (my favorite subject because it includes polynomial division, imaginary numbers, asymptotes, and the unit circle!) My husband is a bartender at a tequila bar. We actually met working at a restaurant together 12 years ago. I was finishing my bachelor's degree during the day and working as a server at night. He would invite me to go dancing after our shift and quickly won my heart.

Frida is our 3-year-old black lab mix that we adopted when she was 8 weeks old. She was a shy and nervous little pup with separation anxiety. After having Frida for about 6 months, the rescue where we got her asked for volunteers to foster some puppies that would be ready to leave their mama soon. As a teacher having the summer off, we decided it was a great way for us to give back. Well, we soon learned that as some pups get adopted there are always more waiting for a home so over the next two years Frida helped us foster over 30 puppies (honestly we stopped counting because they were always coming and going) and get them ready for their forever homes. Frida loved having the puppies around. She is very picky about which dogs she likes except puppies, she loves them all! Frida would show the pups how to potty outside, walk on a leash, sit and wait for treats, bark like a big dog, and cuddle on the couch. And it was through fostering that we found our second dog Sadie.

We stopped fostering when our human child was on the way. But Frida has continued to be a great big sister to the little one. Frida continually tries to share all of her favorite things with baby Luka. She likes to cuddle on the couch with her humans in the evenings and she snuggles with baby Luka too, even letting him hold onto her ear for comfort. As soon as Luka could sit up, Frida would bring him a ball to throw. He has gotten much better at this. Frida likes to go creeking and play in the water. Luka loves to splash in the water and be splashed when Frida shakes off. He loves to throw a stick and watch her swim out in the deeper parts to get it.

Why don't we have pet insurance? Honestly, because I don't believe they pay for the big stuff. I pay ridiculously high premiums for human health insurance and I still received over $5k in medical expenses after insurance for the birth of my child and I spent less than 48 hours in the hospital. We do plan for emergency vet bills, we had two pet rabbits for 10 years and one of them had to have surgery a couple times for GI stasis. Each surgery was $2500-$3000 so we know to keep an emergency fund. But this surgery is much more expensive than we ever imagined. The TPLO is $6k, but if Frida needs the additional internal brace (surgeon will determine at time of surgery) then the total will be $7,357. This does not include the $2606 I have already paid in the past month on x-rays, consultations, supplements, and pain medications.

If you are able to help with any amount to help our girl get back to her full mobility, we would be so grateful! Thank you for taking the time to read our story.