How a strong partnership, good timing, and a culture of ‘yes’ helped a small dog in need of medical help.
When Mateo’s parents brought him in to our partner, Houston Spay Neuter, for a routine neuter surgery during one of their mass spay/neuter events, the veterinarian noticed something was amiss. Dr. Hanna found that Mateo’s right rear leg had an injury that would require an amputation, but when she informed his owners they immediately became distraught. They were both on fixed income, and didn’t have the extra funds required to pay for his necessary surgery.
As serendipity would have it, Houston PetSet’s operations assistant, Kourtney, was at Houston Spay Neuter at the same time, and reached out to the rest of the team to see if our organization could help. We pride ourselves in having a culture of ‘yes’, so of course it was agreed that we could cover the cost of the amputation. Kourtney let Dr. Hanna know, so it was determined that the surgery could proceed.
Since the HSN team was having a large event, they were a bit too swamped to perform the surgery immediately, but they got sweet Mateo scheduled for the following morning. When Kourtney informed the worried couple that we would be covering the medical expenses of his amputation, Mateo’s mom burst into tears of gratitude. They loved their little dog and wanted to make sure he could be happy and healthy.
The fact of the matter is, veterinary care (like any health care) is expensive. Even low-cost organizations like Houston Spay Neuter have to pay to keep the lights on, and they occasionally rely on partnerships like ours to help fill in the financial gaps when owners can’t pay.
Houston PetSet firmly believes that our first priority should be to help keep loved pets in their homes, and that money should never be a barrier to that, if we can help it.
Mateo recovered from his amputation surgery beautifully, and he will be able to stay with his happy little family for the rest of his days, albeit short one leg.
