Wendy's Love Story
Ellie's Rainy Day Fund provided funding for the surgery needed to save Wendy's life.
My little family is whole again. I could not have had this happen without Ellie’s Rainy Day Fund. These pups are my family – they are my heart. You have made me whole again.
A Letter from Wendy's Mom
Wendy’s story actually starts with my incredibly fearful, shy, special needs dog, Sammy. Sammy only functions well when he lives with a companion dog so when my older dog died unexpectedly, I headed for the shelters looking for a 1-2-year-old calm, submissive beagle to match Sammy. I found Wendy and she seemed perfect… but boy was I fooled! It turns out this is Wendy’s world and we’re here to serve her. She takes food out of Sammy’s mouth, throws herself in between us if I’m petting him, but he is still devoted to her. And I love them both to pieces.
Wendy is also an escape artist; she can climb any fence. When she does, Sammy busts through the fence any way he can to stay with her. It had been over a year since my little adventurers had gotten out, so I thought I was safe. As you can guess, I was wrong. They escaped once again, but even after searching for hours, I wasn’t too worried since they’ve always showed up and acted like they were never gone. But when Wendy slowly walked back in late that night, I went to pet her & she screamed in pain. That’s when I noticed all the blood & bite wounds.
We rushed her to the emergency vet where they found serious wounds to her legs and abdomen – she’d been attacked by something large. They needed to do emergency surgery and quoted me $5,000-6,000.00. There was absolutely no way I could afford that – I was heartbroken. I’m not an emotional person and rarely cry, but I sobbed. I had no options and we were going to have to put Wendy down. My heart was being ripped out of my chest because the surgery would fix her but I had no way of making it happen. In my eyes I was failing her because she would die and it’s only because I didn’t have enough money.
The emergency vet said she’d go prepare the paperwork, but in reality she was checking on using Ellie’s Rainy Day Fund. She came back 20 minutes later to let me know that if I could cover what they’d done so far, ERDF would cover the rest. It was a miracle from heaven! I was literally brought to my knees. My little girl was going to get her life saving surgery – there are no words for the emotion. I’m crying now as I write this. Even that wonderful vet, Dr. Levin, was crying.
Wendy received 50 or so staples to hold her together and had a couple drains in, but I was able to take her home two days later. Sammy was still missing and I was terrified that whatever attacked Wendy had injured Sam far worse. I pictured him laying in a field wondering where I was and why I wasn’t helping him. I searched for 4 days. Eventually someone saw him and I drove to the countryside to get him. When he recognized me, he started crying and limped over. He was exhausted and starving, but otherwise he was healthy. He was thrilled to get back home to his best friend, Wendy. She went back in for a follow up two weeks later and had her staples removed.
My little family is whole again. I could not have had this happen without Ellie’s Rainy Day Fund. These pups are my family – they are my heart. You have made me whole again.
