UPDATE: Our boy Bentley passed away Dec 31...

UPDATE: Our boy Bentley passed away Dec 31st. Thank you all so much for the LOVE. All donations are being refunded.

Hi, my name is Greg and my wife and I are absolutely devastated as our 2 year old baby boy Bentley has just been diagnosed with canine lymphoma type B. He is not just a dog, he's our family. This news is especially difficult since having to suddenly put our last boy dog to sleep at an early age due to an inoperable liver tumor, just one week prior to adopting Bentley.

Like it did with so many families, the pandemic pretty much wiped out my savings. Fast forward to now, and I was just recently laid off from my job through no fault of my own. That alone has been quite difficult, even to just pay the bills. But then on December 11th, 2023, we received the devastating diagnosis that our 2+ year old American Bulldog, Bentley, has lymphoma.

A little backstory: My wife and I have together adopted four rescues over the past 14 years or so and have been parents to nine dogs total in our adult lives. Since we have no children of our own, our dogs *are* our children. They mean everything to us and our lives revolve around them. Bentley came into our life when I first saw him on Petfinder a year and a half ago and I just had to meet him. I immediately sent in an adoption application and was there to meet him at the rescuer's house the next morning. I always say, we don't pick the rescue dogs, they pick us ... and oh boy did Bentley pick me! I leaned down to meet this most handsome 1-ish year old baby boy who immediately put his paw on my shoulder, bowed his head and leaned in for a hug. I was smitten. Through his amazing rescuer, I found out that Bentley had been neglected since he was just a puppy by an unhappy couple who kept him chained up in the backyard and fed him only cut up hot dogs. They planned to abandon him there as they were moving out due to divorce. Only because of a concerned neighbor that asked them to surrender the dog to a rescue was he saved from that terrible fate. We adopted him the day after meeting him and he's been living a wonderful, joyful life with us and his rescued sister - an English Bulldog named Rosie - for a year and a half now. This kid had a horrible start to life and has really only known a year and a half of happiness before this diagnosis - we want so much more for him.

The lymphoma he has is quite treatable and responds very well to chemotherapy and Prednisone. We have consulted with a wonderful oncologist and her team and feel that with treatment, Bentley could very well have several happy, quality years of life left. We've already done all the imaging and blood work after the cytology report, and all looks extremely treatable with the cancer not being present in his chest/lungs or GI tract, only lymph nodes and some presence in his spleen. Ideally, we need to initiate his first chemo session in just a few weeks, on January 4th. He will then have subsequent sessions each week for 5 weeks through the course of treatment with tests along the way to monitor all of his levels and progress. The likelihood of remission is very high and has us optimistic he will thrive and continue providing great joy to our family and all that know and love him. Having already put out thousands of dollars in just testing, imaging and initial treatment, this is unfortunately a financial burden we are unable to shoulder at this time, and time is what we don't have. We need to get going on this.

All funds donated will explicitly go to Bentley's treatments which I have posted here with itemizations for complete transparency. We will also be posting progress reports along the way as well as photos to show how much your kindness has changed Bentley's life and those of us who love him. Any funds over the goal will be split 50/50 with half going to the amazing organization that rescued Bentley - Samson's Sanctuary - and the other half being donated to another family in need for the treatment of their dog's canine lymphoma.

This is a difficult time for us and all donations towards Bentley’s treatment will be greatly appreciated more than we could ever possibly express. To be honest, I had to be talked into this as I'm not usually one to ask for help, especially with money. But as I was convinced by a dear friend, this isn't charity, it's community. Thank you for loving our boy.

Our oncologist info:

Dr. Christine Oakley

Veterinary Cancer Group, SFV

818-888-6882