On Friday, October 27, 2017, a dog by the name of Ossifer, belonging to a longtime client and friend of both The Happy Pet Vet and Chris Watkins State Farm, put himself between his humans and a man with a gun.
Ossifer was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice and was shot 3 times while protecting his people.
There isn’t much we can share (any information is considered part of an active police investigation) other than Dr. Shaw performed surgery to save her client’s dog, he is doing well, and he took the bullets that could have taken the life of his family members.
During the 5+ hour surgery Dr. Shaw had to open the chest to retrieve a bullet that was lodged behind Ossifer’s aorta. When almost finished with the surgery, Ossifer suffered a cardiac and pulmonary arrest and had to be resuscitated.
He remained hospitalized for 2 days, and has had a remarkable recovery considering the extent of his injuries. Ossifer is still considered in critical condition and will be for up to a month due to the contamination from the bullet, hair and other debris pulled through the wound into the chest cavity. So while we’re ecstatic at his progress to date, this Hero Dog is definitely not out of the woods yet. He was released to his family as of Sunday, 10/29.
We really want to help the family that owns Ossifer. The cost of his surgery, care and after care is close to $5,000. Chris Watkins of State Farm has generously offered to start the ball rolling and give a donation to his surgery, care and after care. We are asking for additional donations to help his family cover his medical bills. At this point anything will help.
If you would like to make a donation over the phone (credit/debit cards), please contact Dr. Tawnia Shaw, The Happy Pet Vet, at 541.262.4133 or feel free to contact me through this page (www.facebook.com/thehappypetvet).
If you would like to donate over PayPal click here https://www.paypal.me/TheHappyPetVet
We want to make sure 100% of any funds collected go to Ossifer’s care. We will give a running tally of funds collected on this post or future posts. We appreciate any help you can give. Please share widely amongst your friends and colleagues. Let’s get this Hero Dog all the support he needs to fully heal, both mentally and physically, and get back to enjoying his life.
