Dog owners spend £24,000 fixing pooch's wonky legs
A COUPLE proved how much their puppy means to them by planning to sell their car and “cancel Christmas” to help pay a £24,000 vet’s bill.
Dixon is very lucky to have such loving woners
Sarah Mitchell and David Mullins got German shepherd Dixon in February when he was seven weeks old after buying their first home. But Dixon turned out to be plagued by genetic deformities which left him bow-legged and struggling to walk.
After four operations the couple, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, are now fundraising to foot the hefty bill. They have decided to “cancel Christmas” and sell their car and have vowed not to go on holiday.
Dixon back in February
Sarah, 26, said: “When he was four months old we noticed his legs didn’t look right. We took him to a vet who then referred us to a specialist.
“He said he thought Dixon had dwarfism because his front legs were bowed and shorter. The specialist said he had never seen this before.”
The poor pooches bow-legs are visible in this photo
Sarah and David, 27, were told to bring Dixon back when he was fully grown but at six months he was in a lot of pain and struggling to walk. They were initially told he would need a simple operation to straighten his wonky legs.
Our parents are helping us out a lot and we are fundraising too but it’s still a massive struggle
But a scan showed Dixon had a rare genetic deformity which left him with holes in his joints. These needed rectifying, along with his out-turned paws.
Call centre adviser Sarah said: “Our parents are helping us out a lot and we are fundraising too but it’s still a massive struggle.
Dixon just after his operation
“Luckily we haven’t had to take out any loans and we have a payment plan with the vet so we can pay it off monthly. It will take us a few years though. We both work but it is a struggle. We’re only just getting by.
“A lot of my friends say they would have had Dixon put down but I could never have done that. The first vet we saw even suggested we take him back to the breeder, which was shocking. “This has cost us a lot but Dixon is worth every penny.”