My Good Friend Almost Lost His Dog...

I don't usually post threads here on ATS, but today I was spurred into action. I received word that a good friend of mine was about to be evicted. I was pretty shocked considering he is a pretty responsible guy, but then I find out that he spent his whole months disability check as well as everything he had on him at the moment to get his dog stitched back together.

Little back story here...my friend is an 8 year 3 tour combat veteran. He has had problems with anxiety and his dreams ever since he came home. A year or two ago he was given a service dog through Paws For Freedom, a program to assist vets with his very issues. Since then we have all grown to love Goose. About a week ago goose went out in the backyard as usual to relieve himself...but as it happened he saw a raccoon, and being a Rhodesian Ridgeback mutt, he chased it behind a shed. As soon as he ran behind the shed my friend said he heard a yelp and cry. Goose had impaled himself on an old aluminum screen door frame. My friend used one of his old combat bandages to wrap him up and took off to the vet.

At the vet they tell him he must pay all costs upfront before work would be done on Goose. Now for him it was an easy choice. He drained every dollar he had including his entire disability check for the month. Somehow they managed to save Goose, however my friend can't pay a single bill much less the 280$ a bandage he needs every 24hrs to replace on Goose.

I wanted to share this to get an idea of any way I could help him out. We started a GoFundMe for him but I would like to do more, unfortunately I am only just slightly better off financially than he is so I can't do much. Any help you guys can give would be great. I won't link the GoFundMe here cause i think it's against T&C but if you U2U me I will link you if you want to share the story or help out.

a $280 bandage everyday?
what are these bandages made of?

a reply to: RickyD

Boy we had the same with our malinois, chased a rabbit in dawn, came back out of the woods impaled by a trench.
She lost her spleen due to that. That was 4-5 years ago and since then, we had to start feeding her fresh meat, mixed up with vegetables. You need to suplement with algae, too, if you do that. She´s now 12 years old and it took her one year to detox from that processed dog food crap, her belly was pitch black at the beginning. It´s not even more costly, it´s actually the same, just that you need more time to prepare and an extra freezer. Maybe connections to your butcher. But in the end, processed dry or wet food is poison.

Although, you could see what the repeated narcosis did to her, it definitly killed some braincells.
A good diet will do wonders. Also, I can´t fathom that it´s 280$ a bandage. That´s a rip off!

I´ll hope the best for your friends.

Edit: I´ve personally inspected the smoke detectors in one of the biggest food processing plants in Germany. They create food (yes, create) for over 170 brands, cat, ferret, dog, you name it. It´s disgusting what the ingredients are, sadly no mobilephones or cameras allowed. You barely get the smell off your skin, you smell for three days. If you love your pets, now that you know this, don´t feed them that crap.

BTW, even the "top premium" stuff that we used, was from the same processing plant. Don´t buy into that premium food crap, it´s just a rip off.

a reply to: Rikku

Not sure...that's what he was telling me. They're rather large judging by the pics he sent me.

a reply to: RickyD
Do you know if anything had to be removed? How old is Goose?

Also, expect a PM.

a reply to: verschickter

Thanks I'll pass the info along. I have never had to deal with anything like this but the dog has drainage tubes in and a bandage covering almost the entire mid section between his legs as well as one of his back lags having a smaller separate one. I am not at home so the only way to link pics at the moment is that GoFundMe page.

a reply to: verschickter

Goose is 2 not sure if anything was removed...I'll check now.

a reply to: RickyD
Two good friends of mine are moderators on a big german dog forum, maybe we can gather some money or even send medical help in form of bandages. Are they laced with antibiotics because they are that pricey?

I´m not a vet but if there are drainages the cost will be high. I guess Goose is at the vet currently "under surveilance"?
I´ll phone or write him a message tomorrow, could be we have someone on your continent who can handle it faster and without border customs.

a reply to: verschickter

Thank you, I really am not sure. I think the easiest way may be for me to clear it with him go just send you his email. That would make finding out what's what a lot easier.

a reply to: RickyD

I saw the pictures, I guess it´s okay to share the link? I can´t promise anything but I will get back to you tomorrow, it´s past midnight here.

a reply to: verschickter

Yes share away...that was kinda the reason I brought it here. I know this community is the type to help someone if they are legitimately in need.

a reply to: RickyD
To speed it up a bit
If RickyD is offline, people can PM me for the link, I will respond as soons as I see
I hope this in line with T&C.

a reply to: verschickter

Thanks, I'm at a work thing with the ol lady and my phone is about dead. I will check in as I can. I willsay this dog even to me just an outside observer is very special and needed for my friend. His combat history and just what I've seen has been pretty horrid as far as what he has seen and done. I can only image how his dreams go. Goose has been trained to notice when he is having Bad dreams and wakes him up and comes to cuddle. I don't know what it is about it but it seems to seriously lower his anxiety. Add to that this dog to him is like his kid and it really makes me wanna do whatever I can. I would let 99 out of 100 dogs go but if it was one in the moment I probably would need this help and not him.

a reply to: RickyD

"Bad news", they want to see bills before they do that (german board).

Just want to remember you, they asked me again, if he or you can provide a picture of the bill (private data can be blacked out) and your screenname written on it, they will put it on the forum.

No reaction? At least you could have gave me a feedback, now I´m looking like an idiot because everyone screams SCAM. Thank you.

a reply to: verschickter

Sorry life has been hectic and I forgot to check back here. I will ask him later today when I get off work. I didn't intend to make you look bad that's for sure. Also I assure you it's no scam. Most of the donations so far have been from his military buddies however I donated what I could too. However I'm not gonna blast my real name here for all lol.

a reply to: verschickter

I am probably going to see him today I will ask. Sorry for the late responses, but work is busy lately and I am traveling so I just space out checking in here. I do apologize.