On Monday, April 10th, I heard this awful screech and saw a car driving down the street by my house. I assumed it was the car until I looked I looked out the window and saw this little dog limping pretty bad down the street. I quickly went outside and whistled to get her attention and she immediately sat down. When she saw me walking towards her she again started to hobble away. I whistled a second time and again she sat. This time she waited for me. I knelt by her and slowly started to pet her since I knew she was injured. Knowing it was a risk, I picked her up and she began to snuggle with me. I looked down at her and could tell that she had been neglected for quite some time. Her fur was very dirty and matted something horrible. I realized that she was injured more than I thought. I quickly loaded her in my car and went to the closed vetrinarian, Rice Lake Animal Hospital. I then met with Dr. Brian Woods who looked checked her over. He quickly looked at the fur on her back and realized not only was the fur matted, but full of fleas. Dr. Woods gave her medication to kill the fleas and said he would take some x-rays and asked if I could post a picture of her to see if we could find her owners. When he inspected her teeth, he said he thought she was older and then estimated her age to be about two years old.

I went to work and checked back at noon to see if anyone had claimed this puppy. I told them if no one called or claimed her by the end of their office hours I would pick her up and take her home. Five o'clock was approching so I made a second call and was not very surprised to find she was still there. I made good on my promise and went to pick her up. When I arrived, Dr. Woods then told me her ankle was dislocated and needed surgury that required an orthopedic surgeon. After some discussion, I agreed to take her home and keep an eye on her just in case her owners were located.

I had my dog's kennel set up for her with lots of blankets so she was comfortable.  Before I put her in the kennel I decided to hold her on my lap. At that time, my dog, Apollo, jumped up on the couch by us and lovingly nuzzled the new houseguest. Dr. Woods had given me some pain medication for her which went down pretty easy with some peanut butter. The entire time she was with me her tail was wagging like she was the happiest dog on earth. Little did we know.

On Tuesday she just stayed in the kennel unless she was being held. Each time she was held, she always snuggled in. Over and over I wondered why no one was looking for this sweet dog. There were many shares of my post but still no call. I spoke some more with Dr. Woods and decided accept his offer of a referal to the orthapedic surgeon.

Now it is Wednesday and still no call from an owner so when I received notice that she could be seen that day at the University of Minnesota's Small Animal Hospital I packed her up and we drove the 100 miles from Rice Lake to St. Paul for advise. When I met with their surgeons I was told that both of her back legs had torn ligaments  and would need different types surgery. After the surgery she would have splints on both legs and might need to keep them on for as long as 12 weeks. I knew that this was going to be very expensive. I tried very hard to hide my surprise when I was  told it  could get  as high  as $5,600!

I didn't bat  an eye and scheduled the surgery for Thursday, April 13th. I am sure many people would say "It's  only a dog". But, when I looked in the eyes of this sweet animal, I saw pure trust and I knew I made the right decision!

I struggled to come up with a name and all I could think was this little girl is gonna persevere, the it struck me, Percy! I knew she was a fighter when I saw her limping down the street.

I thank you for taking the time to read Percy's story and if you are able to help me pay for her surgery, that is wonderful. If you would share this story, that would also be appreciated.

Thanks!
Marla