Everyone Loves Pizza ...

A few months back, me and my partner Rachel visited a Elephant Nature Park in Chiangmai, Thailand. This centre homes a load of elephants who've been rescued from various harmful and in humane trades. As well as the elephants, they also have over 500 dogs. Rescued from the street, the illegal dog trade, flooding or saved from being poisoned as they were seen as pests. We spent a month working with these dogs and giving something back. Whilst there we fell for a dog, we knew it would happen but didn't plan it. Pizza was a skinny little thing, he was rescued from a military camp who were going to poison him and his family. Pizza had been at the park for nearly 4 years, living with his brothers and sisters. However, things took a turn and he began to bleed from his nose and he dramatically lost weight. It was discovered that he had a blood parasite and was ketoacidotic, which is what happens when animals (and people) with diabetes don't take insulin. Things were bad, he was vomiting, collapsed and had to be treated in the local animal hospital. Thankfully, the fast work at the park and the hospital saved his life. He was in intensive care and given a blood transfusion by a donor dog, Neptune.When he returned to the park he was a shadow of his former self but still fighting. However, he had to be kept in the clinic away from his family. He had been diagnosed with diabetes and so needed to be kept away from food outside of meal times and given regular insulin. This meant he was separated from his brothers and sisters and lives in a small kennel with limited outside space. So, of course, we decided he needed a home. He's such a sweet natured boy even after all that's happened to him and we felt we could give him a loving home. We spent a lot of time with him but had to leave him and return to the UK 3 months ago and wait for his quarantine to finish at the end of November. Then we got some bad news, Pizza has developed cataracts and needs bilateral surgery so that he can see. He's already lost his sight but this can be saved. This is a specialist job and isn't cheap.We're still waiting for a flight volunteer to bring him over to us, we're flying him to mainland Europe and collecting him, this reduces costs and the time he'll be stuck on a plane. However, now we need to raise around £4000 to pay for his eye surgery. Both Rachel and I regularly give to charities and now we're calling on our friends around the world to help out a little dog who has been through a lot and now has lost his sight. If you can manage a few pound to help us out we will be eternally grateful, whatever we raise will go towards his surgery and we'll obviously top it up to ensure it happens.Thanks so much in advance, Matt, Rachel and Pizza