Thankfully, the Hogan’s pet Daisy is recovering after sustaining serious injuries in a hit-and-run, but the mounting veterinary bills have been hard on the family. Although the Hogan’s have been hugely supported by friends, family and strangers who have donated to help cover Daisy’s care through a crowd-sourcing campaign, in the future Hogan says “I know one thing, I’ll have pet insurance after this.”
Most pet’s don’t have high-profile accidents like this, and need more reliable funding, such as pet insurance, to help them get through the rough patches. Pet Health Insurance guarantees the best care possible for our beloved pets, and enables pet owners to make decisions that are based on a pet’s wellbeing rather than on finances.
The kindness of strangers, family and friends is helping Daisy, a King Shepherd dog, get back on her paws after she was seriously injured in what her Leitrim family believe was a hit-and-run.
The five-year-old pooch is now recovering from surgery that saved her hind leg from amputation and fixed several other serious injuries, including internal damage.
Now the healing process, which will take another five or six months, has begun, while the veterinary bills continue to mount.
“You know when they say it rains, it pours? That was an understatement that day, believe me,” Daisy’s owner, James Hogan, said.
He and his wife, Jessica, had been at CHEO with their three-year-old son, Lincoln, when they received the devastating news about their dog in a telephone call from their friend, Matt Haig, on Nov. 2 around 7 p.m.
Haig had been caring for the couple’s two older children, Patience, 6, and Damian, 11, at the family’s Leitrim Road home, situated between Bank Street and Albion Road.
“He says, ‘Your dog is bleeding out,’” Hogan recalled. “When I got back, he was holding her wounds to try to stop the bleeding.”
It’s believed Daisy and the family’s four-year-old short-haired cat got out of the backyard and onto the road, where Hogan said drivers regularly speed by at 100 km/h, well over the 80 km/h limit.
Hogan suspects when the cat got out, Daisy followed, since the dog always enjoyed playing with the feline. The cat was also struck and killed in the same incident. The family’s pug, Willow, remained in the backyard.
“We still don’t know how the gate got open,” Hogan said. “The cat can actually squeeze through the fence, but as far as the dog getting out, we still do not know at this point and time. We always keep our gate closed.”
Hogan said the driver who struck his pets likely knew what happened since Daisy is a big dog, and there is lighting in the area and “you have lights on your vehicle – you can surely see what you hit.”
When he rushed home that night, he saw Haig covered in blood.
“He looked like he’d been dipped in red paint,” Hogan recalled.
They got the bleeding dog into a car and Hogan took her to the Alta Vista Animal Hospital.
An assessment revealed Daisy’s left hind hip and leg were dislocated and broken, while there was an open wound on her right hind hip.
Her spleen was also injured, there was road rash on her front paws and a mark under her chin, which he believes she suffered after she struck the pavement from the force of the impact. She also had an air pocket between her lung and rib cage that eventually worked itself out.
Due to mounting medical bills, which had climbed to $2,300, he decided to switch to a Montreal veterinary centre the night of Nov. 5. Daisy was assessed and the medical team felt it could save her more seriously injured leg.
But it was going to come with a steep price tag and Hogan brought Daisy home to care for his pet as best he could while trying to raise the funds to pay for surgery.
For days, he knocked on doors and put up almost 1,000 flyers, and his wife created an online GoFundMe campaign that has since generated more than $3,000 towards a $5,000 goal.
The vet bills have been overwhelming, said Hogan, who lays asphalt in the summer months and does snow-removal in the winter.
But also overwhelming has been the support of friends, family and strangers, who have donated what they can to help the Hogans and their beloved canine.
“I’m not the one to be asking people for help for this kind of thing,” Hogan said.
Friends have also started collecting refundable bottles to support their cause.
“There’s been some help that’s been amazing,” he said.
Dog walkers also rallied to hold an impromptu bake sale at Conroy Pit in south Ottawa on Nov. 14 and 15. Their efforts generated more than $700.
Hogan said he never considered reporting the hit-and-run to police, not thinking it was an incident they could readily solve.
Through the experience, Hogan said he has learned not only about the kindness of strangers, but also another important lesson for the future.
“I know one thing, I’ll have pet insurance after this,” he said.
The family’s online fundraising link is available at gofundme.com/wn89y3tb.
Republished from Ottawa Community News