Bella is a 3-year-old Staffordshire in Stagecoach, NV who needs 2,300 for for surgery to fix her CCL tear (like a human ACL tear)..

I grew up with pets all my life, that is until I married into a European family. To them animals weren't pets, they were food! I went 35 years with no pets. After my divorce and the children were grown I fell into a depression. I crawled into bed and never wanted to crawl out. Then one night I had a dream. It was one of those dreams that is in every way so real that once you awake you question weather or not it really happened. In this dream I am in the passenger side of a car, we had a truck. I look down and there in my arms is a baby Rottweiler. I looked at her and said, " Bella." I had remarried by this time to a man that shared my love and respect for animals. Unbeknownst to me he had found a litter of Staffordshire terriers and arranged to go see them. He walked into our bedroom and told me to get dressed. He had borrowed his mothers car to save on gas. All the way to Redding I was in a state of Dejavu. We drove 6 hours. When we arrived I was handed this perfect little lump. She was brindle with a white star on her chest and blue eyes. As I got back into the car I looked at her and knew at that moment this was my Bella. She wasn't a Rottweiller, she was a baby pit bull and it was love at first sight. It has been 35 years since I had a puppy. Time has a peculiar way of distorting the memory. I would swear on everything I knew
that puppies just liked to cuddle and watch t.v . Dear God almighty but it was all coming back to me now! Here I was, 51 and it was like having a new born in the house! In place of 2 am feedings we had the 2 am " Potty outside ", which was followed by the 3:07 am potty outside, followed by the 4:23 am potty, the 5:12 am potty, and my favorite, the 7:28 am potty outside. In between the potties, we had the clumsely galloping across the floor, tripping and falling into the water dish which quickly dumped the bowl of puppy kibble, chasing the cats around the house, running at brake neck speed from room to room, followed by the pounce and bite to my ankle only to roll across the floor, pick up the throw rug, shake head violently, deep growling in throat and drag the rug into the kitchen. There is a reason we were meant to have children and puppies while we are young. The body heals easier! Then, just as I have pulled my shoes out of her mouth for the 10 time, played tug-a-war with my throw rug, and I think I'm gonna lose it, she sits on her haunches, her far too huge paws splayed out in front of her, big floppy ears standing alert, she tilts her head gazes up at me with those big blue eyes and that wave of love washes over me and I thank God for bringing Bella into my life. Everyday we played at the beach. You have never seen a dog love water as Bella does. A year ago we had to pack up everything we own and move to Nevada. There just wasn't enough work where we were. Instead of beaches and rivers, we have found ourselves in the middle of a dessert surrounded by Tumbleweeds and wild horses. Then as luck would have it, the engine in my jeep blew up, I lost my job and life as I knew it was gone. Our savings depleted I never believed I would ever face being completely broke and having to start over. With my husband being the only one working and having only one car, times have been hard. One day while walking Bella out on the plains a jack rabbit jumped out. Bella tore after it. It was like the starting gate of the Kentucky derby! I had never seen her run that fast. I remember thinking she's gonna pull something! Later that night I told Bella to get into her own bed. She sat up but her hind legs wouldn't move. It was as though she was paralyzed. I stayed up with her all night and at first light began calling vets near me. The first two couldn't see her and recommended a place in carson city. I asked how much it would cost to bring her in. The initial exam would be 47.00. Then she would most likely need xrays and that would be 400.00. I was told from there it would only go up. I hung up the phone and cried. How could I have failed her so badly? I'm not sure there is anything more painful, more embarrassing than not being able to get the care my dog so desperately needs. I began researching things I could do at home for her. I found that once I kept her still she could get up and walk. Only now she walks crooked and there is pain. Everyday I put her in a hot bath and soke her leg. Then we apply ice. I see a little improvement but know there is an underlying problem. We finally got her into a vet. The xrays showed she tore/ruptured her acl in both hind legs. Arthritis is beginning to set in one leg, and their is fluid on the other. The required surgery is five thousand dollars per leg. This is where they need to cut the angle of her bones to support the repair. The other option is 1200.00 per leg. May not last, but with keeping her activity down, it might work.