Support MJ's Recovery

Zachary Rosen is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hi there. Until recently we fostered dogs for Ventura County Animal Services (VCAS) in Camarillo, California. We both grew up with dogs in our home and have loved the joy they bring into our lives. A few years ago, we decided to try fostering shelter dogs and found it to be an incredibly rewarding and fulfilling experience. Since then, we have fostered 11 dogs.

Our latest fosters were a trio of older, large bully breed mixes named Mary Jane (MJ), Cesar, and Bruiser. These friendly, sweet, and loving dogs were beloved by the shelter staff and volunteers and nicknamed the “Hippos”. Bruiser was adopted by a wonderful family, leaving us with Cesar and MJ. Cesar has various aches and pains and old-dog ailments but nothing serious.

MJ from the beginning had two cancers. She had a mast cell tumor on her abdomen, and large sarcoma on her right front leg/elbow. The shelter had decided not to operate on either of them, which we knew and understood. We were prepared to provide her supportive, palliative care for as long as she was enjoying good quality of life and not suffering. Which it was abundantly clear that she was—she was otherwise healthy, happy, active, and mobile. She was enjoying her life to the fullest, and we were happy to help her continue to do so for as long as she could.

After she had been with us for several weeks, we noticed that the skin around her leg/elbow tumor had begun to split and seep small amounts of blood and fluid. MJ was unaffected and continued to be her bouncy, goofy, happy self, so we contacted the shelter veterinarian about obtaining supplies to help manage things and keep her comfortable. We had purchased bandages and over-the-counter ointment at our own expense, and we asked for the veterinarian’s office to help by providing additional bandages and wrap for her leg, and hoped to discuss future medications (such as pain medication and antibiotics) to keep her otherwise healthy and happy for as long as possible. She also needed an evaluation for a possible recurrence of an ear infection that she had experienced in the weeks before.

It was at this point that things took an unexpected turn. The shelter veterinarian became extremely reluctant to engage with us and suggested that the time had come to euthanize MJ. We were caught completely off-guard by this, and at first thought there had been some kind of misunderstanding. We had not asked for curative treatments or heroic measures; we simply wanted inexpensive and basic supplies to help us help her maintain good quality of life as much as possible. And for when the time eventually did come, we asked for permission to utilize at-home euthanasia at our own expense. We discussed this with the VCAS foster coordinator who agreed that MJ was still enjoying life and promised to discuss the matter with management.

Unfortunately, our worst fears were soon confirmed. The foster coordinator told us that management, at the advice and recommendation of the shelter veterinarian, had ordered MJ be completely cut off from all medical care whatsoever. There would be no bandages or wrap, no medications to make her comfortable, nor would they even evaluate her possible ear infection recurrence (let alone treat it).

We learned that the veterinarian had lied to management by telling them that MJ had no quality of life left, and further that we had been demanding that the shelter pay for curative or heroic efforts. This was, of course, the precise opposite of the truth. For reasons unknown to us, the shelter veterinarian had condemned MJ despite VCAS’s own internal policy providing for several months of hospice/supportive care in foster. The veterinarian had even wanted to order us to return MJ to the shelter for euthanasia within a certain number of days, but that at least was overruled by someone above her.

We were shocked, saddened, and completely disillusioned by this turn of events. Despite her tumors, MJ enjoyed very high quality of life. She was otherwise healthy, happy, active, and mobile. She is above all an affectionate, loving dog who just wants to have a good time with people. To refuse any medical care whatsoever in this situation was, to us, cruel and heartless. It was a complete betrayal of everything VCAS claimed to stand for.

Because MJ still had good quality of life in spite of everything, we could not accept this in good conscience. We decided to adopt MJ ourselves to free her from the deceitful and cruel practices being imposed on her by the shelter veterinarian, and to allow us the freedom to do what was best for her. At the same time, we also adopted her brother Cesar, who we feared would be the victim of retaliation by the shelter veterinarian. Again, for reasons completely unknown to us, the veterinarian seemed to have some kind of vendetta against foster animals and had already violated shelter policy at least once to try and prematurely euthanize MJ. There was every reason to think that Cesar would face the same malice as his sister.

Now that she was ours and we were free to do what was best for her, we wanted to explore what treatment options were actually available outside the confines of shelter medicine. We sought out multiple opinions from different veterinarians while continuing to perform at-home wound care for MJ’s tumor with bandages, wrap, and other supplies that we bought on our own. We also treated her ear which was actually infected, to relieve her of that discomfort. We were prepared to continue the same path we had been on—supportive/palliative care until her quality of life began to decline—but wanted to know whether any other reasonable options existed that had not been available while she was under the shelter’s care. Even if we did opt against invasive treatments and continued with palliative care, she would have continued to enjoy several further weeks of quality life past when the shelter veterinarian had wanted to euthanize her.

After consulting with several private veterinarians and being given a few different possible treatments, we weighed the risks and benefits to MJ and decided to proceed with surgery to debulk the leg/elbow tumor. The operation was as successful as it could have been; the surgeon was able to remove all visible tumor from her leg/elbow, as well as completely remove the mast cell tumor on her abdomen. She is now recovering at home and doing well.

Because of the size and location of her leg tumor, the surgery will not be a permanent cure. It should, however, buy her at least several additional months of high quality of life and potentially over a year. We wanted to give her a chance to enjoy what time she does have left to the absolute fullest.

The purpose of this Go Fund Me is to help pay for MJ’s surgery and medical care. As mentioned, the operation was completed on October 16 which we paid for out of our own pockets, and for the weeks immediately preceding it we paid for a substantial quantity of wound dressing supplies that the shelter had refused to provide. We could afford it without going hungry or worrying about making rent, and having adopted MJ we knowingly and willingly undertook responsibility for her care. We always try to make veterinary decisions for our dogs solely based on their health and well-being, and luckily, we were able to do that for MJ and this procedure.

At the same time, the cost of her care was unexpected. We did not anticipate her being abandoned by VCAS, and had not planned to suddenly assume financial responsibility for her treatments. So, while we were able to afford it, we do not have unlimited funds. It consumed a portion of our savings meant for things like home/auto repairs, emergencies, and travel. The cost of her surgery leaves us with less of a buffer for those things, as well as less ability to provide future veterinary care for both MJ and her brother Cesar.

We are starting this Go Fund Me because the Hippos’ many fans have expressed a desire to continue to support them. Any money we raise will defray the cost of her medical care and help us be better able to provide for her and Cesar as, inevitably, future medical issues arise.

If you want to help us continue to support and care for Mary Jane and Cesar, and are otherwise financially stable/comfortable, you can donate to this Go Fund Me. Any funds we raise will help us continue to provide them with a health and happy life for as long as we can. You can follow them and their daily adventures via our Instagram adoptthisdogsocal, where they do cute, funny, and ridiculous things on an almost daily basis. Links are posted below to some specific videos documenting what happened and MJ’s condition.

Please do not contribute to this Go Fund Me if it would in any way affect your personal finances. If donating would cause any kind of difficulty or complications for you and your everyday life, please do not do so. If you still want to donate even if it would cost you more than, say, your daily Starbucks order, we thank you very much for your kind sentiment and strongly suggest that you instead donate to rescue organizations such as All For Love Animal Rescue (AFLAR), or Canine Adoption and Rescue League (CARL) of Ventura. These are each wonderful rescue organizations that pull dogs from VCAS, and supporting them will help other dogs who are truly needy. Similarly, if you are just generally upset at VCAS for how they have treated us and other foster animals, donations to these groups will help them rescue animals from VCAS so that they do not face the same prejudice that MJ and Cesar did. Links to these organizations can be found below.

Thank you very much in advance for any support you do provide, whether it is to us directly or to one of the other wonderful organizations below. No matter what, MJ and Cesar are going to be loved and cared for the rest of their lives.