Please help us save our beautiful gift, 'nurse' Bailey.

Bailey is an 10-year-old Shepherd / Husky / unknown rescue dog who escaped from a nightmare to become the best known furry 'nurse' to those in the greatest of need in our community. Now she needs the help of strangers, no different from those who she has comforted, so she can survive a serious infection that I cannot save her from without expensive medical help and services that I simply cannot afford. I have committed too much to helping others in need, and we recently experienced a nearly devastating unexpected expense that could not be avoided, so now I cannot afford to save her without your help.

I have tried to help as much as I can, including using the cone to stop or slow the spread. However, the use of alcohol spray and Benadryl only seem to cause her stress and pain. She needs the proper antibiotics and other medicine to treat the flesh destroying bacteria, which is out of my means.

Bailey has genuinely helped dozens of people in need by providing emotional support and comfort to those who come to our door, totally exhausted and often starving, barely surviving from exposure to the frozen streets of Barrie, Ontario. Details of our non-funded, strictly volunteer operated Big Blue Box transitional tenancy project can be found at https://tinyurl.com/3dfuz2yd

Bailey is always the first to say hi when the poor, sick, and sometimes dying arrive at our door, often in the middle of the night, when they just can't take the -30° temperatures anymore. She is quick to snuggle in with them to provide warmth and comfort where it is most needed. She also guards over them while they sleep soundly, sometimes for the first time in weeks.

My baby girl is also the ambassador of good will to the dogs that often accompany those people. In our city, there is not a single shelter that will accept people with dogs, which is the primary reason we opened up our studio and home to strangers in need. We show preferential treatment to people with dogs, as they literally have nowhere else to go to escape the cruelty of Mother Nature.

Most of those people choose to live in a tent during blizzards and lethal temperatures rather than surrender their loyal companion to a dog shelter where they will face death if not adopted. I meet these people while working with a local charity that supports the unsheltered community by providing warm food and the necessities of life to those living in encampments and on the street. https://tinyurl.com/6dvwrau2

Those with dogs are invited to join us for at least the winter, where we live as a community, sharing resources, responsibilities, and chores, while helping each other. This includes care for the dogs, for whom we provide food, beds, toys, and of course treats. Together with these recovering, once homeless human beings, we share a 100-foot-long run where the dogs can play together in total safely.

Despite her smaller stature, Bailey is the matriarch of the pack, teaching new pups how to live in a house, and helping to ensure there are no fights. She is quick to break up disagreements, and makes the rounds visiting all members of the house. She is loved by all and welcome as a furry therapist by those who need a friend who listens, but does not push their own views.

Bailey was born in a crack house to a mother who was ill. Her death when the litter was just five weeks old inspired the owner to use a hammer to 'ween' the young pups. Fortunately for Bailey, my daughter heard of the plan, and she and her boyfriend demanded access and saved the last pup, which she named Bailey as her fur pattern resembled a shot of B52. A few months later, the little survivor of such trauma was transferred to me, as I had a larger home, a yard, and another fantastic dog, now lost, who helped me to show Bailey the rules that she now teaches to dogs that have only ever known life in tents. This was the beginning of the road to our partnership now.

I run a not-for-profit media service that donates all services to charities, not-for-profits, and benevolent community groups. https://tinyurl.com/wd7jhxfx The unfortunate side of always helping others is I don't often have a lot of money for the more important priorities of life, like my baby girl, Bailey. As a philanthropist, I have provided more than $700,000.00 in services to greater than 180 charities, not-for-profits, and community groups, through the creation of more than 350 fully donated fundraising and educational videos. https://tinyurl.com/b2734ezu

In 2021, at the height of the pandemic, my volunteer crew and I were nominated and voted to the highest level for the City of Barrie and Chamber of Commerce 'Paying it Forward' award for altruism. https://tinyurl.com/yvxwp4dp

Currently, we are the only media service in our city willing to stand up to corruption and abuse of authority, as our Mayor and Council have declared war on the unsheltered community, and have gone so far as to brazenly abuse their Charter rights and a ruling of the Superior Court that protected the unsheltered community members regarding their "right to life, liberty, and security of the person". That self-serving hypocrisy has led to a complete lack of shelter for the people to whom we have provided sanctuary, and their dogs.

I rarely ask for help from strangers, but I don't know what else to do. I don't want my decision to help others to cost the life of my baby girl, Bailey. She deserves better, and there is no way for me to raise the funds needed before the infection takes her from me, and from those she and I work together to assist. If you can help, Bailey and I thank you in advance.

John Ironside