St. Joseph Bay Humane Society: Emergency Medical Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

The Petfinder Foundation generously gave an Emergency Medical Grant to our shelter for a young dog named Star. Star needed urgent medical care because of a lame front foot.

This Petfinder Foundation grant allowed our shelter to schedule major surgery for sweet Star, a young pup who desperately needed a better quality of life. Without the Petfinder Foundation's generosity, our shelter would have needed to do special fundraising to help cover the cost of Star's surgery. This would have delayed her operation and medical care.

How many pets did this grant help?

1

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

Star was an adorable and friendly 6-month-old Australian cattle dog mix who was brought to our shelter as a stray. She had what we thought was a broken front foot because she was unable to use her paw. Her poor paw was covered with wounds and sores from Star dragging it on the ground while she was homeless. After a full examination at the vet, we learned that her lame foot was due to irreversible nerve damage. It is possible that Star had a birth defect. The vet recommended an amputation. He felt it was the only long-term solution to provide Star with a “normal” and happy life. Sadly, the day before surgery, Star unexpectedly passed away. We were all heartbroken, but had faith that Star was running freely on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. So twinkle, twinkle, little Star, like a diamond in the sky. Show us your light, and twinkle, twinkle all the night. We will miss you.