Dustin is a 12-year-old Lab/Collie Mix in Riverton, UT, who needs $708 for Senior Health Mystery.

I am originally from Chicago, Illinois. When I moved to SLC, Utah - my last dog had just left my life. Scared and missing home, my second day in this new state led me right to the Utah Animal Humane Society where I walked around and saw a sad eyed, old boy paired in a kennel with beastly pit bull. It was at that moment where I knew he and I were meant to be. He saved me, and I saved him.

Dustin isn’t just a dog. He is a brother, a friend, a kid, a peacemaker, a socialite, an anxiety specialist, and depression eliminator. He snuggles, listens, loves, and ALWAYS knows when you’re upset or struggling. It’s his 7th sense. He approaches any and all persons equally - babies, kids, adults, elderly, no bias. He always puts everyone else’s needs before his own..

This pandemic has financially burdened me. I am a single parent and full time student and receive no financial help. I don’t have a rainy day fund and was recently required to file bankruptcy. Dustin is the only thing that has brought my daughter and I joy, consistently.

Dustin has been to many different vets - with those vets missing critical diagnoses. Now that he is older, his breathing has worsened, his lipomas are huge after unnecessary aspiration, his coat is flaking out and not shiny, oral deterioration(despite tentative care) , low thyroid, neoplasia (can’t yet identify the symmetrical specks on/by lungs), and laryngeal paralysis.

Whenever Dustin goes “missing” we can always find him laying down (hiding) by the cabinet under the kitchen sink. Here, we keep the dog treats. Dustin has a collar with his tags and when we can’t either hear him snore or hear those tags, we look to the sink. There, he’s just staring at the cabinet waiting for someone to open it and get him one. Again, no begging, just sheer silence and staring!