On the Lakeview and Port Credit Positive News Facebook Page on June 16th, a member,  Dale O’Leary, posted about an unfortunate incident with her Chihuahua Coco. She has a motorized scooter because of mobility issues. Coco was riding on her lap and her collar popped open, Coco ended up in front of the scooter and Dale accidentally ran over her. Coco’s leg was quite damaged. Dale took Coco on her scooter to the first vet she could get to. They were closing but did clean the wound and told her bone was exposed and the wound needed to be tended to.

Dale called multiple vets looking for help as she wouldn’t be able to pay for Coco’s care until June 29. None of the vets she called were able to accommodate. Concerned for Coco, Dale posted on the Facebook page about what had occurred and any suggestions of a vet who might be able to accommodate a deferred payment. Not knowing the extent of Coco’s injuries, I personally felt she needed to be seen ASAP.

I called Clarkson Emergency Vet asking if Dale brought Coco in, could I give them my credit card over the phone to cover the costs as I live in Waterdown and knew it would take about 30 min to get there. They said I would need to be physically present so Dale was able to get a neighbor to drive her and Coco to the vet and I met them there.
I stayed with Dale and Coco until they did a full exam and X-rays. The vet did offer a couple of possible courses of action, one of which would provide Coco with immediate care at a more reasonable cost. He did a local anesthetic rather than general which would have required extensive blood work and an o/n stay. He removed bone fragments, stitched her leg and put a cast on.  I covered the cost of the vet bill and within an hour, multiple people, all also strangers to Dale and Coco, were asking for my contact info!

A lady named Sabina who saw all the comments on the original post with people asking how they could help, she took those people and created a private chat group which was so helpful! By the next day I had $630 e-transferred towards the $943 bill and two cheques being mailed!! One person contributed $200, another $100, others have $50, $30, $25. I was personally blown away by how many people so quickly came together to help a pup and her loving owner.

Social media really brought an amazing group of people together, so much love and positivity. Dale was moved to tears at the support and has been posting pics, videos and updates of Coco who is doing quite well!