Animals change lives. Please help us save Bear

We have 6 children, 2 of whom have cognitive disabilities. Our dog, Bear, has been a source of therapy to our family. Being a child with disabilities is hard trying to just fit in and make it in this world. Being a sibling to a child with disabilities takes an emotional toll as well.

We have taken some pretty significant financial tolls as we have been paying uninsured medical costs for our children with disabilities, and as we have had to advocate in the school and justice systems for our children of color being singled out as well as having to advocate for their disabilities.

Bear was recently in an accident. His leg and hip are broken. It cost us $4,000 to stabilize him. We were given 2 choices after stabilization, (1) surgery with payment up front or (2) euthanize our dog. The range of cost for the surgery is large and even the low end would put our family in financial distress and they offer no reasonable payment options. We brought our kids to the vet at 1 am to say their good byes, but we couldn’t do it. Our children sat and saw bear alive, but broken. He could be fixed but because of money we couldn’t. Hearing the cries of our children saying “I wouldn’t care if he died in a year, but please don’t let him die this way” . Hearing one of my sons with disabilities who just got his first job offered to give what he made to help pay for Bear’s medical bills when he was trying to save for a dirt bike he has wanted his entire life. To hear all of what our children would sacrifice to save this family member was heartbreaking.

Bear needs an orthopedic surgeon and they say they don’t know if this is the only surgery he needs until after they can go in and see. We are begging for some reprieve as we go through this with our children.

Update-(He just had the pelvic surgery and the total was $7,000 on top of the $4,000 we paid at the first vet place to stabilize him)