Kevin and Deuce, Bobby & Stella

PFA received a call in September ’23 from a loving pet owner who needed help from our Whole Families Program for his best friends. Deuce, a handsome 10-year-old gray bulldog, Bobby, a spunky 12-year-old mix breed and lovely Stella, a 14-year-old mix breed have lived a wonderful life with their adoring owner, Kevin.

Unfortunately, the chain of events that led to Kevin and his beloved dogs becoming homeless started when Deuce had a spinal stroke in August of 2019. Fibrocartilaginous Embolism (FCE), more commonly known as a canine spinal stroke, occurs when there is a blockage in a blood vessel supplying the spinal cord. When this occurs, it can cause immediate paralysis to one or more of the dog’s legs. Deuce was hospitalized in a local animal hospital for ten weeks and also had to make two trips to an Emergency veterinary hospital. The cost of Deuce’s treatment was over $35,000.

As Covid was shutting down our state, Kevin struggled to make enough money driving for Uber and Lyft to pay for Deuce’s veterinary care and medications, not to mention paying for his own daily living expenses, which included his car insurance and car payments. Disastrously, Kevin’s car was repossessed and he was unable to make a living. He lost his apartment and was living on friends’ couches just to survive. Kevin has been struggling with his own health for years, frequently going without his own medications and foregoing treatments just to ensure that his elderly dogs have the food and medications that they need to be healthy.

Fortunately, Kevin learned about our Whole Families Program from a friend of PFA! Our Social Worker has been able to guide Kevin through connections to social service programs that can help him. PFA has also been able to provide Deuce, Bobby and Stella with the veterinary care that they need. Kevin is so pleased with the care that his dogs have been receiving from PFA that he says that everyone at PFA made him feel welcome and treated his best friends with tender loving care.