Support Ruka's Journey to a Pain-Free Life

Hi! This is Ruka. He’s a 3 year old American Staffordshire Terrier (Pitbull).  In 2021 he was found abandoned off a country road with his brother at 5 months old. Charleston Humane Society so graciously let us meet him, he walked in calm and confident. Placed his head right on our 2 year old daughters lap and relaxed. Immediately we knew but I always say; he chose us.

Shortly after he became a part of the family our daughter was officially diagnosed with Autism. Ruka quickly became very aware of her behaviors, stims, and stressors. We saw this as an opportunity. 

He has learned sign language along with her, provides deep pressure therapy, will circle us to create space in crowded settings, and is currently working on “find Stella” incase she wanders off (elopes). As soon as all the paperwork was in order, he started limping and became reactive to anyone near his hind legs. This put an unexpected halt on his career as a working dog.

He’s been diagnosed with Luxating Patellas as well as bilateral cranial cruciate ligament tears (CrCLD). He is in desperate need of a Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO). Surgery is his only chance at having a pain free life. The cost to operate on both legs separately would be $8000 per leg but the cost to correct both legs in the same surgery would be $11,735. In lieu of cost, anesthesia, medications, recovery etc. getting both TPLO’s at the same time is a much wiser decision.

He provides so much love, support, and safety in our home. It breaks my heart that he’s hurting and unable to do all the things that bring him joy. I’m working full time in a restaurant and can’t afford additional childcare in order to increase my income fast enough. In a situation like this, time is of the essence because his ligaments could rupture at any time and become excruciating. 

I don’t know what we’d do without him. Any donations will be going towards giving the best dog in the world his life back so he can continue to keep our very special girl safe. Thank you for taking time out of your day to get to know our boy.