“My Sanctuary” – Echo’s Happy Tail
June 10th, 2026
By Savannah Verdon, Development Manager –
Samantha took in Echo when her mother passed away. She felt it was her duty, but she never could have anticipated how close they would become.
“This dog is my protection and my sanctuary. She quells my anxiety. Echo slept in my bed when I was too scared to sleep while pregnant, due to nightmares and near extreme paranoia from living alone. She’s seen me through three serious relationships, two births, and two beautiful children who greatly adore her. She’s playful, kind, and sassy. She taught herself how to give hugs, and she gives very good hugs every day. She loves everyone and everything, is extremely trainable, and happy.”
When Samantha first took in Echo, she had neither the money, time, nor resources to have her spayed. She figured that, at eight or nine years old and living indoors, Echo wasn’t likely to get pregnant anyway, and as far as she knew, that was all there was to be concerned about. Now eleven, Echo had gone through several heat cycles with Samantha, and everything had gone well. After her most recent heat cycle, however, Samantha noticed that Echo’s belly was hard and bloated. She spent her last eight dollars on gas to get Echo to the emergency veterinarian, despite having no way to pay for any treatment.
They had gone not a moment too soon: Echo’s uterus was swollen with infection and could have ruptured at any time. The veterinarian let Samantha work out a payment plan for the bloodwork and X-rays they had done to diagnose her with pyometra, but they couldn’t be as flexible with her emergency spay surgery.
Samantha had her second child five months prior, and was unable to work while she was still recovering from a Caesarean section. The family relied on her partner’s income to get by. Affording food was difficult, and they went to the food bank for groceries every week. She considered all the possibilities for affording Echo’s surgery, including sacrificing her family’s grocery budget. Before it came to that, she called multiple clinics looking for a more affordable option for the surgery. Things weren’t looking optimistic, and she was beginning to think there might be nothing she could do for poor Echo.
“She’s been a huge part of my life for eleven years, and she still has so much life left in her. Even with an infected, swollen, painful uterus, she’s happy and chipper, trying her best to get up and move around, tail still wagging. Knowing I could lose her without emergency surgery breaks my heart. I can’t euthanize her; it would be downright cruel. She deserves to have twelve, thirteen, sixteen years of life. Please, please help me save our beloved fur baby.”
The one thing she wasn’t going to do was give up. She finally found the help she needed when she came across the RedRover Relief Urgent Care grant program online. Samantha didn’t know it yet, but she now had hundreds of (FurEver) friends she could count on to save Echo.
Just two days had passed since they went to the emergency veterinarian, two days of Samantha thinking she would have to say goodbye to Echo, and Echo was in surgery to have her infected uterus removed. If Samantha was relieved when she found out she’d been approved for a grant, she was beyond grateful when Echo made it through surgery successfully – and even more so after a smooth recovery.
“Here’s my sweet, eleven-year-old girl, Echo, who was ready to play just twenty-four hours after surgery! She’s doing SO MUCH better now. After being confronted with estimates from multiple clinics for the cost of the surgery, I considered making the heartbreaking decision to euthanize her, but chose to take on the cost no matter what; she had too much life and happiness left to give up on her. Because I was able to receive help with the bill, I still have our sweet, sweet girl, and I can still put food on the table for my family of four, plus our girl, Echo. Thank you so much to the insanely kind donors who helped pay for her surgery; she wouldn’t be here, and I’d be heartbroken, without them.”
We’re thankful that Echo is feeling good again and ready for hugs, and that this family didn’t have to go without food to save her. Your recurring support is lifesaving not only for pets, but for the people who love them, too. Thank you for being a FurEver Friend to the animals!
