A homeless man who lives in his car for the past 2 years in Salinas, CA called Pets of the Homeless.   His dog, Richard, a 6-year-old Labrador Chow mix had gotten loose, hit by a car, and picked up by Animal Control. We spoke with Animal Control and the officer was very concerned about the dog. It definitely had a spinal fracture and they believe there may be a broken leg or hip. Animal Control would not release Richard to his owner. The officer would take Richard to a veterinarian of their choice. We assured Animal Control we would help out with the examination to start. Richard was taken to a network veterinarian for an examination and x-rays.
After the examination it was determined that Richard had a severe fracture and needed a repair surgery or an amputation at a cost of approximately $1,200 – $1,650. Richard would need to be immobile for 6 – 8 weeks for proper follow up care. We approved and contributed $800 towards amputation surgery.
Richard is back with his owner and doing great as you can see from the photos!