This little dog is dreaming of much more than sugar plums; he's dreaming of a Christmas miracle!  You see, just a few days ago he was just one of the hundreds of stray dogs and owner surrenders at Lucas County Canine Care and Control (otherwise known as LC4; the government run "pound" in Toledo, Ohio).  He'd been turned in as a stray. He had no name.  And he had even bigger problems than that.  He had no use of his back legs, no control of his bowel, and he needed to have his bladder expressed.  He could not be made available for adoption.  A week went by and no shelters or rescue groups came forward to pull him.  

All of us at Maumee Valley Save-A-Pet knew his veterinary costs would go way beyond what we could afford, but we couldn't stop thinking about this little dog.  His  medical situation became critically urgent and we decided that, at the very least, he deserved to see our veterinarian.  We didn't want him to be euthanized without giving him a chance for a proper diagnosis.  We wanted to know whether or not he could be saved, but very honestly, we assumed the vet would recommend euthanasia.  We named him Nick (Saint Nick!) and wanted to surround him with love, if only for a short time. 

We can tell you firsthand that even though Nick doesn't have the use of his legs or control of his functions, he has a lot of heart!  He submitted to all the poking and prodding without complaint, and it was well worth it because the news was good!

Our regular veterinarian was pretty confident that Nick has a slipped disc that could be repaired by a specialist.  (There is speculation this was caused by a person.) We decided to take a leap of faith in our community of supporters and animal lovers.  We moved Nick to the emergency veterinarian for the night (Friday, December 9th) and today (Saturday, December 10th), we took him for a consultation with a specialist in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  The estimate was a little better than we expected, and Nick got great news!  There are no guarantees, of course, but the specialist believes Nick can have a full or close to a full recovery with surgery.....which he needs to have almost immediately before his condition deteriorates further.

Now comes the hard part.  The very hard part.  We need to raise $5,000 BEFORE we can proceed.  This includes his initial vet visit and the emergency stay, plus the estimate for an MRI and surgery.  Generous and compassionate people have contributed about $800 already so we're going to set the goal on the GoFundMe page at $4,000.  Anything raised above and beyond this will go towards Nick's post surgery care and then to our Second Chance Fund to help the next medical emergency shelter dog that we pull and transfer to Maumee Valley Save-A-Pet.  Nick needs to have his surgery on Tuesday at the very latest.

We hope everyone understands that, while we don't want to base our decision about his fate on money, the fact is, we don't have the resources to spend this amount on one dog and still be able to serve the other animals in our care.  Our hearts say "just do it and figure it out later," but we have a responsibility to our current animals and to our supporters to make financially smart decisions; it's too much money to risk without a guarantee that we can raise it later.  Everyone in the animal world has a different philosophy on what to do, how much to spend and what measures to take to save an animal; we respect all of those opinions but because Nick has a really good chance at recovery and a quality life, we're hoping to give him that a chance.  Every life is valuable.  

We're asking for your help during a very busy and expensive time of the year.  No donation is too small.  They all add up and can save Nick's life.  Can the magic and spirit of the season lead to a Christmas miracle for Nick?  We hope so!  Please, please, if you can, donate immediately and help Nick by sharing his story and GoFundMe page. 

Happy holidays to you and yours, and while you're celebrating the season with your own beloved pets, please keep Nick in your thoughts.


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