The Honey Pot

Honey, a stray dog that my roommate rescued from the street, has heartworms and needs your help.


Here’s the story of an extraordinary stray – first named Honey, then Brick, and then Honey again – from the perspective of my friend and roommate Matthew:


"Last week, I was painting the brick wall outside my house in North Hollywood. I had my earbuds in, totally lost in thought, mentally planning the rest my evening. As I was kneeling down to paint a lower section of the wall, this little brown dog came from nowhere and licked me right in the face. Half-startled, half-annoyed, I looked around for her owner, wondering who would let their dog get right up in some stranger's face like that.

When I looked, nobody came.


I gave the dog some water; her ribs were pretty visible through her skin and there were no ID tags on her collar. I just couldn't let the dog wander off or possibly get hit by a car. I brought her inside, went back to painting, hoping someone would come by asking if I had seen a little brown dog.


No one came.


Not knowing what to call her, I named her Bri
ck. My roommate Lucas noticed her breathing was labored and peppered with coughs. After a short debate, we took her to the Studio City Animal Hospital. According to her microchip, the dog – whose name, it turned out, was Honey – had an owner, one who lived just a few blocks from our house. While they were unable to contact her owner, I offered to cover an initial examination, at least to get an idea of what was wrong. 


A half an hour later, we’d learned that she had a fever of 103, a low red blood cell count and, worst of all, collecting around her abdomen. At that point, in order to continue helping, the hospital would need to conduct more expensive tests and, more importantly than that, they would need the owner’s permission. The doctor strongly advised us to seek medical attention for the dog as soon as possible.


We drove to the owner’s apartment. The kid that came to the door told me the owner was his brother, that he used to live there, now lives with his girlfriend and that his dog Honey ran away months ago. He also mentioned that his brother now had a kid and probably didn’t want the dog back anymore, especially now that she’d accrued this many medical bills.


I didn’t know what to do but I didn’t want to give up on this little brown dog.

I don’t believe in coincidences. I felt in some way like this lost thing came to me for help. I didn’t want to drop her at an animal shelter – the last thing I wanted was for Honey to get put down. Without the owner’s permission, though, there wasn’t much else we could do. We could maybe take her to an emergency overnight clinic but that’d be crazy expensive, her care would be limited and their hands might be legally tied. 


Despite her condition, she seemed happy, running and playing with the other dogs. 


The next morning, she got another check-up at the Studio City Animal Hospital. Turns out that they might be able to help Honey out after all – apparently, microchip laws change all the time. Time, however, was running out. From the moment that I found her, I only had 48 hours before I legally had to turn Honey into a shelter. The doctor was kind, took some fluid samples, gave me the address of the local shelter and didn’t even charge me for the visit. 


(I gotta say – the folks at the Studio City Animal Hospital are great people; they’ve gone out of their way to help Honey, even performing tests I couldn’t pay for. Cannot praise them enough.)


When we got to the shelter, Honey just froze – she wouldn’t go in. I should’ve taken this for the sign it was but, without another option, I picked her up and carried her inside.


I asked the person behind the desk if I could maybe put my name down in their records, in case the owner never claimed her. She said I unfortunately couldn’t and that, due to her severe medical issues, there was a chance she’d get put down.

“You’re going to kill her?” I asked.


“I didn’t say that,” she responded. She apologized but, due to the shelter’s limited resources, conditions such as Honey’s can often be cause for euthanasia.


“Then I’ll take her back,” I answered. “I’ll be financially responsible for her. I don’t want her to die.”


She replied that I simply couldn’t. Honey wasn’t my dog. “There’s nothing you can do anymore.”


And they started to take her away.


I teared up. She kept trying to run back to me – it was so clear that she didn’t want to go with them. I felt I had totally betrayed her. I honestly considered jumping over the counter, snatching her back and running the hell out of that place. I was crushed.

Then, like a movie, my phone rings. It was the animal hospital – they had gotten a hold of the owner and he didn’t want the dog anymore. I turn back to the counter, tell them to stop, that I have verbal confirmation from the former owner. After a little negotiating, the owner sent their written consent along with proof of his ID.


Back at the animal hospital, Honey got some x-rays done and took a few blood tests. Some people in the lobby even heard my story and donated $100, right there on the spot, towards her medical bills.  


The diagnosis came in – Honey has heartworms. I don’t know how many there are, how far along they are or how fully grown they might be. All we know is that her breathing’s worsened , she coughs blood and that she’s becoming more and more lethargic. Right now, the best thing for her is that she stays at the hospital overnight – she’ll get oxygen, they’ll monitor her fluids, keep her calm and give her the meds she needs. This, however, costs up to $3,000 – $4,000 per night.


I simply can’t afford that.

With all the medication, the doctor’s visits, the specialists, the potential operations, it’s really hard to see how much this will all end up costing. She does have an appointment with a cardiologist on Monday and hopefully, that’ll give us a better picture of what we can expect.


I’m hoping to raise $5000 for our Honey Pot. Considering all the expenses, it’ll hopefully be enough to help this new member of our family get back on her feet. If anyone deserves a second chance, it’s her.


I’m humbled by what meaning and purpose this dog has brought into my life. It feels like she came into my life for a reason and I'll do whatever I can to help her. If you have anything to spare, Honey and I would greatly, greatly appreciate it.”


That’s Matthew’s story. He’s my roommate but more importantly he's one of my best friends – just about the nicest, most caring guy you’ll ever meet. Now he needs help. Anything you can spare would go an incredible way to helping this sweet little doggo. If you have nothing to spare, you can help out simply by spreading the word – share this GoFundMe with your friends and family. Every little bit helps.


Any additional funds raised by this fundraiser will be donated to a shelter or animal hospital yet to be determined. 


Thank you for reading.