New Zealanders rally to save injured puppy
However, the public rallied to the plight of Bronson Stewart and his 5-month-old puppy, named Buck, on Wednesday, raising money to save the dog by paying the bill.
After Buck was hit by a car two weeks ago neither Stewart, 19, nor his father Kevin could afford the $1,730 for the puppy's broken leg to be pinned back together.
The family, which lives on welfare in the North Island city of Wanganui, instead offered to pay the veterinary clinic $3.50 a week, but the clinic declined.
The veterinarian then refused to return the pup, saying it was best the little dog be put to sleep because he was in agony.
"I just knew I had to get my dog back. He's like my brother," Stewart told TV One's "Closeup" program Wednesday.
Stewart went to the veterinary clinic last Friday and asked to see Buck, grabbed the little dog and ran home. After the story was publicized, local people rallied to Buck's aid.
Wanganui SPCA manager Val Waters told New Zealand Press Association that people had donated $624 to save Buck and the office had fielded "hundreds" of calls from people offering further donations.
That should be enough to pay for the surgery to repair Buck's leg, according to Waters.
"The dog will be just fine," Waters said.
Share on Facebook
- Posted on February 10, 2010
Animals
Art
Your stories
I won't cry, I won't cry! Puppies and dogs are my world! The vet should have given the dog a chance and I hate that veterinarian! Now I think vets have NO heart!!!! I'm very mad! Fantastic for buck. The community= hearts; vets= ZIP! I like how he loved that pup enough to get it back from the evil people. Buck is strong to hold in there for so long. I feel sick thinking about what he went through. No joke.
That is a really sad story. Although I can understand the vet who didn't want to do the surgery without getting paid at once a little bit, it is hard to imagine for me that he could refuse to do it. It's really great that the boy didn't give up and tried everything to save his puppy. I am glad that there are still people out there who are willing to donate for injured animals and that his puppy could be saved!
That article was about when a puppy got hit by a car , the family couldn't afford the bill. The family was very sad. People wanted to help. They saved un money to save the dog. Even though the vet wanted to put it to sleep , the family didn't want to. They loved that dog. That town teamed together and saved that puppy.
That is a sad story. The worst part is that they wanted to put the dog to sleep. What kind of person would want to do that if there are other options. Its a good thing that people raised the money to save the puppy because it would have been sad if the boy had to get rid of his dog. I'm glad that the dog will be fine.
In my case i would be worried about my dog because it is just a puppy but the fact about putting it to sleep i can't do. Who would want to do something horrible like that. I think it is good that new-zealanders tried to help out with the bill in order for the puppy 2to have surgery. It's good to hear that the dog is doing good. thanks to the people the dog is out of agony.
I think this is so amazing. It is so awesome how the community donated so much money for Buck. Also I think it was nice the vets kept him to make sure he stayed fine.
I think this story is sweet. It's really nice of the people donating money to help the dog and the family. I'm sure the family didn't expect people to give them money, but I'm sure they were delightfully surprised. If I had the opportunity, I would have donated some money. I can understand how the family felt when their dog got hit. They would have been devastated to put it down. We had to put down our dog and it was awful. This whole story was a loving one and a keeper and a lesson for other times.
Oh, shut up, alex943. You are obviously the most hateful, spiteful, cold hearted person in this world. It's a good thing that SOME people in this world have a heart. Five months is almost HALF A YEAR! That's plenty of time to fall in love with a dog, especially a angel-faced, wet-eyed puppy-dog. Dogs aren't machines you can just throw away and get new ones. Dogs are part of a person's heart. My dog Sydney died of cancer. I couldn't do anything. I wasn't there. THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING I COULD DO. The only thing that could have made it worse is if there was something I could do BUT I COULDN'T DO IT. My dog was old, 13 years, so she wouldn't have survived surgery anyway. And there wasn't surgery for her. But if there had been, and our family couldn't pay for it, I would be heartbroken. I would feel like I let the dog down. That's probably how Stewart feels about his dog. What is he supposed to do? He has no money to pay for it, and his dog, his best friend, is dying. What is he supposed to do?
Sad story. Stupid donations. Why would someone donate to saving a dog. If the puppy was injured you couldve gotten a new one. After five months you cant be that attached to a puppy. The thousand dollars could easily be put to better uses such as cancer reaseach or other resereach like diabetes or alzhiemers. Also why would you spend money on animals. If it dies it dies. You can always get another.
Have you never had a pet? When you get an animal you get really attached to it. You want to take care of it, not kill it. it is horrible to put animals to sleep unless you know that they will die and are in pain. If an animal can be saved, save it! A pet owner can't just say oh I can always get another dog, and if the family didn't have money to help the dog what makes you think that they can buy a new one?