“My Best Friend for Life” – Aurora’s Happy Tail
April 1st, 2025
By Savannah Verdon, Development Manager –
The best pets play many roles: sweet baby, confidante, space heater, shadow, dropped-food-finder…the list goes on, almost indefinitely. Aurora was all that and more to Daisy.
“Aurora is my world, my child, and I truly believe she saved my life. I adopted her in Mexico, and from the get-go, she jumped on me and did not want to leave my side. That is when I knew she was going to be my best friend for life. At that point, I was severely depressed and had just quit my job. I had no aspirations or goals due to my depression, and since she has come into my life, she has helped me fill that empty hole. Since then, I enrolled in school, started dating, and rekindled my old friendships. I truly think that Aurora is the biggest reason for that. She is my best friend for life, and I would do anything for her.”
Daisy was a student receiving no financial support from her family, instead working odd jobs that fit her full-time class schedule. Her financial aid was just enough to buy groceries and get by every month. Naturally, her social life needed to fit into her budget, so she and her friends would visit each other in their homes to spend time together, sometimes bringing their pets along for the casual gathering. To keep Aurora safe whenever another pet visited, Daisy kept her in a room with the door closed, thwarting her curious nature but protecting her nonetheless.
Her friend arrived before Daisy made it home, and brought her big dog with her. Once inside, everything seemed okay for her to let her dog off the leash. The door to the other room appeared to be closed, after all, and she didn’t see Aurora. But the curious Aurora poked her head out to see who had come to visit her. She was fully out the door when the dog finally noticed her.
Chaos was unleashed. The dog lunged in Aurora’s direction and took off chasing her. Surprised, she, too, started running, but her cat-like reflexes would fail her – the visiting dog latched onto her right rear leg with its strong jaws. Daisy had arrived amid the chase and was devastated to find her sweet baby terrified and badly injured.
As she rushed her to the emergency veterinary hospital, Daisy thought for sure that Aurora would lose her leg. With X-rays, pain medication, and a bill already exceeding $1,000, she learned that Aurora’s right leg was broken and her hip was dislocated. The veterinarian insisted that surgery was impossible and amputation was their best path forward, but Daisy didn’t want to amputate Aurora’s leg if such a surgery were possible after all. Either way, she was looking at a final bill greater even than several months of her financial aid. Now that felt impossible.
Living on a tight budget taught Daisy to be resourceful. Help was always out there, and one call was all it took to find the help she was looking for. The first foundation she called not only offered a grant to help pay for Aurora’s treatment but also helped her find another hospital that could do the surgeries at a much more affordable rate. And to add kindness to their generosity, they told her she could also reach out to the RedRover Relief Urgent Care grant program. She had already paid a deposit on the surgery, and Aurora would be staying in the hospital over the weekend, but she had to pay the remainder of the bill by Monday. Daisy applied for an Urgent Care grant and crossed her fingers, hoping the timing would work out. With an On-Call Angel watching over them, the timing worked out, Aurora’s surgery was a success, and Daisy was worry-free as she brought her best friend home to recover.
Your support keeps best friends together when accidents turn into unimaginable crises, saving the lives of pets, and extending a helping hand to loving pet parents when they need it most. Thank you for helping Daisy save Aurora and making Happy Tails like theirs possible every day!