This is Basil, ask me how he got his name.

On Saturday morning I couldn’t sleep. I don’t sleep much, that’s a different story. I was scrolling through FB to try to go back to sleep. I stumbled across a cry for help from a friend of mine. She posted that this dog ‘needed rehoming ASAP as the owner could no longer care for the animal.’ I was immediately compelled to help. I texted her later in the morning, she said I could come take a look at him. When we got there we found him in an awful state. Very dirty, matted fur over his whole body, emaciated, so sad, so gentle, limping. He immediately limped over to me and just put his head on my leg. I bent down to look him in the eye, and he curled his head around my neck, as if to hug me. He just held me. I knew I needed to help him.

My friend said---we’re not sure how old he is, we think 7-8months, we were trying to care for him after someone else had left him with us, but we can’t. He’s very ‘playful’ and we have had to have him outside most of the time because my son works and he was messing up the house. He’s not neutered, he’s not potty trained, we don’t know when he last got a bath. He is clumsy, he fell in the fire pit the other night. I’m tired of seeing this dog neglected.

The puppy, he’s a Bernadoodle (big sweet boy), 7-8 months old, kind as can be. We took him into the car, he was so weak he fell out. We spent 4 and ½ hours cleaning him up, taking out the mats in his fur. Every time we would cut through a mat, we would find sticks, leaves, dirt, bottle caps, soda tops, bread bag ties, stickers, tape, and we even found a gardening tag. The gardening tag read, “Sweet Basil.” As we started to remove the layers of matted fur, we started to realize how injured and sick he was. His left hind leg was completely caved in at the hip, he couldn’t bear weight on it, he was dragging it. He is so thin, I was shocked to see the outline of his hip bones under the skin so clearly. He hasn't eaten well in a while and was having trouble eating anything.

We have been caring for our sweet Basil since Saturday. He has already brought our family so much joy. Despite his health and fracture, he is loving and gentle with our kids. As we have been getting to know him it was abundantly obvious he needed help, he needed to see a doctor. We had scheduled a vet visit for Monday, they cancelled. We had scheduled a vet visit for Tuesday, they cancelled. Finally, we got in on Wednesday. That's when we learned that Sweet Basil has avascular necrosis of the L hip. This is uncommon in larger dogs like him. Avascular necrosis is when there is an acute hip injury, it isn’t addressed by the caregiver, and the bone eats itself away. This didn’t need to happen. The condition renders a gap between the top of the bone where it goes into the joint and the leg, this leads to extensive disability, infection and at worst, death, if not treated. He needs a surgery (FHO) at 8 months old because he fell and no one tried to help him, until now. The surgery will be about $5,000-$8,000, then aftercare and PT will be needed, however the overall prognosis will be good they think. Overall he is a healthy boy with years ahead, but to get there, he needs help.

We are struggling to make sense of this type of neglect, especially toward such a sweet puppy. We were not anticipating taking on thousands of dollars worth of medical and surgical bills. We don't have the financial resources to fully support this medical need but hope to give him a new start and better life. We were just trying to help, to do the right thing for this darling puppy. Now he is scheduled for surgery for tomorrow, and will be medically boarded until Monday given his health state. (They are going to give him iv’s and try to help him with the malnutrition, the parasites and his tummy upset) In all, this little guy (40lbs!) is a trooper, and we are doing what we can to help him recover and rehabilitate. Please consider supporting Basil in his recovery and rehab. If you can't today, maybe consider him next time. We truly appreciate your help.