PLEASE HELP SAVE OUR BELOVED HUGO ❤️‍

Yesterday, Easter Sunday 04/20/25 — Hugo, with his ever-growing big dog brain, figured out how to open the back door, promptly hopped the fence and ran away. Lately we’ve had him on a much tighter leash, as we’ve been learning how intelligent he continues to grow, and today no one was at fault for him figuring out how to open the door.

His owner, Nick Teaford, was on his way outside to look for him when a neighbor came over to let him know they saw on a Facebook post that Hugo had been victim of a vehicular hit-and-run. Hugo is very well-loved in the neighborhood. The angel who witnessed the critical hit called for emergency services to take him to a safe location — Johnson County Animal Shelter. As soon as we figured out where he was, we sped over to retrieve him and immediately took him to Noah’s Stop 11 Animal Hospital.

He was seen immediately by the staff and diagnosed with internal bleeding and fluid in his lungs. We were presented with the option of electing for overnight ICU care or euthanasia. Nick could not bear the thought of putting his two-year-old boy down — the only real option for him was to do everything he could for him. The staff brought Hugo to be in the room with us, all staff at that time leaning toward euthanasia. Hugo’s prognosis wasn’t great; his breathing very severely affected.

We sat with him for about an hour showering him with all our tears and love. Nick’s parents then arrived from their hometown two hours away and after receiving so much love and encouragement from all of us, his breathing began to improve a bit! A true miracle borne of love, I wholeheartedly believe. We were then also able to get the initial costs of Hugo’s care covered. However, we would sincerely appreciate any help to get his continued and full care covered. Any amount at all helps. I will be posting information and links at the end of this text — donations directly to Noah’s highly preferred.

We cannot express the amount of gratitude we have for all those involved in getting Hugo safe and cared for. From the absolute angel of a human being, Stephanie, who called for help for Hugo’s life; to the ambulatory servicepeople who transported him; to the local sheriff and staff we met with at Johnson County Animal Shelter; to the entirety of Noah’s staff (notably Dr. Shay Bendavid, Hugo’s veterinary doctor, and Leigh West, practice manager); to Nick’s parents, Bruce and Jan. You all have collectively saved his life thus far. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

To know more information about Hugo’s condition and donate directly to Hugo’s veterinary bill for him to continue receiving care, which has an initial down payment of about $5k, please contact one or more of the following:

Noah’s Animal Hospital — [phone redacted]

Hugo’s veterinarian at Noah’s as seen in photo of her card below.

You may also donate via this Gofundme or:

Paypal — @NickTeaford

Cash App — $xtinahhhh (that’s FOUR h’s)

If donations cannot be made, PLEASE SHARE and please pray for/meditate on Hugo’s recovery. Thank you so so so much. We love you all. Hugo appreciates you more than he can tell you. Love is the highest form of magic. ❤️️

Update 04/21/25: Hugo remains stable and continues to breath much better than he was prior. They had to re-sedate and place another chest tube to remove more fluid. We will be visiting him again this evening when he’s able to be seen, and will get more detail then as well. Thank you all so much. ❤️‍❤️‍❤️