Harley’s Happy Tail

By Savannah Verdon, RedRover Development and Engagement Coordinator

When Lisa lost her job in October, she turned to her sweet older Collie mix Harley for comfort and the reassurance that everything was going to be okay. His calming presence had been a constant in her life for 10 years, and during this particularly heartbreaking period, she needed him more than ever.

Harley and his canine siblings, Rosie and Skippy, completed Lisa’s family. But earlier that year, Rosie – who also happened to be Harley’s best friend – had passed away due to a brain tumor.  As the family grieved, Harley’s friendliness and enthusiasm for life brought joy back into their days. He grew to be an emotional support for Lisa’s nine-year-old daughter, who has autism and had made the switch to remote learning due to the pandemic. Through such challenging times, Harley and Skippy meant everything to the family.

So when Harley stopped acting like his energetic self, Lisa took notice, and she feared going through more sickness and loss. Coupled with having lost her job and relying only on her husband’s limited income, she dreaded receiving a potentially costly or life-threatening diagnosis for her sweet boy.

The veterinarian determined Harley had a large inguinal hernia. He was upset and uncomfortable now, but without treatment, it could prove fatal. Hearing that the surgery could cost several thousand dollars brought Lisa right back to the moment when she knew she would have to let Rosie go, and she couldn’t bear to say goodbye to Harley so soon. 

Lisa’s first mission was to find a veterinarian who could perform the surgery for less, then she would seek out all the help she needed to make sure Harley would be okay. After being denied CareCredit, she worked even harder to find foundations that could help. On the advice of her veterinarian, she applied for a RedRover Relief Urgent Care grant.

After completing the application process, Lisa was able to breathe a sigh of relief when she got the call from the RedRover Relief team with good news, and Harley was soon on his way to being happy and pain-free once again. 

A few weeks later, Lisa shared this update with us:

“Harley is doing so well, he’s back to his old self. Without the help from your donors, I don’t know how we would have saved him! He healed very well from his surgery and we couldn’t be happier about it! Thank you so much for everything you and your organization has done for us and everyone who needed assistance.”