Case of the Month

Coming home from work one day, Alex and Rosie Vila saw traffic ahead of them swerving, cars coming to complete stops, and a person on the side of the road who was frantically pointing down at the ground. They pulled over so they could to see if they could be of any help, and when they did, they caught sight of the injured dog lying in the road unable to move. None of the passersby or people in the other vehicles wanted to approach the animal, so Alex went over to him, picked him up, and laid him gently down in their car. Alex and Rosie decided to take the poor dog to an animal shelter so see if they could locate his owners and get help for him. When they left, they let the shelter know they’d be calling the next day to check up on him to see if anyone had claimed him and to see how he was doing.

As promised, they called the next morning to see if there had been any success locating any owners. No one had been found; furthermore, the dog had a fractured leg, and it wasn’t something the shelter veterinarians could take care of unless someone adopted the animal that day. If no one did, they would have to put him to sleep.

“At that point, my husband and I decided that was not what we wanted for this dog we named Precious,” said Rosie. “I called everyone I knew and gathered all my resources so we could adopt Tony and get his leg fixed.”

Upon the recommendation of one of her friends, Rosie called Dr. Henry Yoo at the Crenshaw Animal Hospital and took Precious in right away. Dr. Yoo told her Precious had two split fractures in different areas of the leg and helping Tony would require major surgery.

“We knew we wouldn’t be able to afford the care Tony needed on our own, so we asked the doctor if he knew of anyone we could turn to,” said Rosie. “Dr. Yoo told us he would lower his fees if we could come up with a certain amount of money to contribute, and he also told us about the Angel Fund. We were able to have Precious operated on and he did great.”

The Crenshaw Animal Hospital found several families who were interested in adopting Precious, but Rosie and Alex wanted to be sure that Precious went to a home where he would be very happy and well taken care of. They also wanted to have Precious with them so they could monitor him until he was fully recovered. Alex and Rosie already had two other dogs, so unfortunately they couldn’t keep Precious with them. Precious got along well with Alex and Rosie’s other furry family members, a deaf white boxer named Brutus, 7, and a little white terrier, also 7, named Lily, but it took a while for Precious to warm up to them. At first all he would do was follow Lily around, but once he felt more comfortable and loved, he opened up and became the sweet, mellow dog he is today.

One day Rosie’s sister in law came to visit, saw Precious, and fell in love with him. Precious was too girly of a name for a boy dog, Rosie’s niece thought, so Precious’ name was changed to Tony, and his new life began.

“He’s a completely different dog from when we first saw him on the street,” said Rosie. “He was just a mess. He had blood all over him, he was skinny, and he had lots of fleas. Now he gets groomed regularly, and he walks with his head held high because he knows he’s beautiful now. What’s especially wonderful is how loved he is. My sister in law told us that Tony completed their whole family.”

“The Angel Fund helped it happen for him, and I think the name ‘Angel Fund’ says it all.” Rosie shared. “It was like an angel sent help for Tony. So many times people and organizations just turn away from these animals and think that putting them to sleep is the best option, but I’ve told everyone about the Angel Fund because I am so impressed with how willing they are to help animals.”