A Christmas Miracle for Cincie

My name is Bruce. A friend of my family, Melissa O is in need of a Christmas miracle. Her 2 year old dog, Cincie, a black lab on the left in the photo, has a likely intestinal blockage that will require a surgery that will cost in the neighborhood of $6000. Melissa is a self-employed owner of home-based hair salon. She is the sole owner and the only stylist. We have known Melissa for at least 15 years.

Over the course of the last few years, life has thrown a variety of struggles into her path. They have been challenging to her to say the least. She and her husband divorced several years ago, but remained close and had a solid friendship. He had a variety of health issues that had permanently disabled him. Unfortunately for Melissa, during the height of the pandemic, he contracted COVID and succumbed to it not more than a week after his diagnosis. Melissa also contracted COVID three times in the last few years, causing her to have to close the salon and suffer the loss of income from the quarantine times. Several complications form COVID also forced her to have other medical care that further impacted her situation.

So how does all of this relate to the current situation with the dog named Cincie? Cincie was her husband’s dog and the litter mate of her other dog, Clyde. After her husband’s passing, she took in Cincie. Clyde and Cincie are now inseparable. Both dogs just celebrated their second birthday within the last month or two. To make matters worse, Melissa had two other pets that she had to put down within the last year. Her cat, Alvin, and her beagle, Charlie, both crossed the rainbow bridge within the past year.

Melissa posted the following on Facebook last night. “Please pray for Cincie...We are at emergency vet, possible blockage...I will know after the xray...Poor girl...she is in bad shape...This will either be a $500 dollar visit or $6000...” Her mom also posted on Facebook the following comment regarding the situation. “Please pray for a Melissa all her friends & family. She has been through so much heartache this past year & now she may have to put Cincie to sleep as she will require a very costly surgery that Melissa just cannot afford . Please pray for a Christmas miracle !!!!!”

At the vet this morning, Melissa said the vet is working to reduce the cost of the surgery because the vet “was having a hard time putting such a young otherwise healthy dog to sleep.” They are working to get the cost to about $3500-$4000 instead of $6000. Again, we need a miracle! While the surgery is no guarantee, the expense of the surgery is there and needs to be covered.

Some of you may be thinking this is just a dog, but Cincie is so much more than that to Melissa. Cincie’s connection to both her husband and her other dog Clyde mean more to her than I could tell you. Cincie and Clyde are family. The sole purpose of this fundraiser is to help my friend Melissa through this very difficult valley, a valley that has spanned the course of several years now. Let’s give Cincie and Melissa the Christmas miracle that they need.