Help Charlie heal from injuries due to negligent dog sitter

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Hello,

I’m running this fundraiser on behalf of my sister Wendy and her beloved dog Charlie.

Wendy loves Charlie and would do absolutely anything for him. He was diagnosed with diabetes in 2023 and cataracts/loss of vision in 2024, and since then she has completely covered his care (Vetsulin & syringes, vet checkups, eye drops, etc.), and even paid for his cataract surgery in December 2024 so that he could see again.

She’s super selective of who watches her dog, so when she found a sitter on Rover who represented herself as a vet tech with injectable medication experience, she thought it was a dream match. She did a meet & greet with the sitter, who offered a discount to book outside of Rover (in hindsight, red flag), and she provided two-page detailed instructions on Charlie’s care.

We left for our two-week vacation on 1/30, but by 2/9 Charlie had to be rushed to the emergency vet by Wendy’s friend. We cut our trip short and booked the earliest flight home we could find, and after 30 hours or travel time we rushed straight to the ER clinic.

At this time we learned that when Charlie was rushed in he had:

* A blood sugar level of 600+ mg/dl, leading to diabetic ketoacidosis. As of yesterday (2/16), this is finally under control but is still being monitored

* Abnormal kidney and liver values

* An infected wound on his upper right front leg that turned necrotic and has led to sepsis, meaning multi-organ failure is possible at any time. One round of wound debridement was done on 2/12. We were told amputation is not off the table

For the first few days Charlie would not eat, and as of yesterday he still has not walked, though we’ve gotten him to stand (with help) momentarily. He is on a feeding tube, antibiotics, pain meds, oxygen (on-and-off), and CRI insulin. Once his glucose level has stabilized, they will switch back to regular Vetsulin. He also has edema in his limbs and chest due to being stationary for so long.

My sister isn’t the kind of person who would ever ask for money from anyone, so I’m doing it for her because the costs are quickly adding up. The running total for his vet bills - plus last-minute plane tickets back into the country + what the sitter was paid - is ~$30K+, and at this point we don’t know how much longer Charlie is to stay in hospital or if he will even make it. He still has a long road to recovery (future rounds of debridement, physical therapy, etc.) if he survives.

Each and every cent would go to his care, and in the case that there’s any excess, it will be donated to an organization dedicated to animals (TBD if/when that time comes).

She’s posted the full story on Reddit if you would like more detail.

If you’re not in the position to donate, please just keep Charlie and Wendy in your thoughts.

Thank you so much for reading regardless!

UPDATE 2/20: Charlie passed away on 2/17 and we are heartbroken. Thanks for all the contributions to his recovery and for any future donations to help ease the financial burden on Wendy while she tries to navigate life without her Charlie.

The goal has been lowered to $35K for Charlie’s ER vet bills and cremation costs.

Thank you again.