Ellie is a 2-year-old Labrador in Lakeville, MN, who needs $2,000 for Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO).

Ellie was gotten as a puppy at 8 weeks, and she has been an important part of our family ever since. She's bonded with our other lab, Austin, who is three weeks older than her. Together, they live on a spacious hobby farm and they thoroughly enjoy farm life.

Ellie loves living on the farm, and she loves to run. Her favorite activity was to chase the four-wheeler or play tag with her brother, Austin. She loved to meet new people and her tail is always wagging. When she isn't outside playing or helping out with farm chores, she is inside, laying by our side quietly as we read or watch TV. No matter what we are doing, she wants to be right by our side.

She loves to play in her "pool". It's a horse trough filled with hose water that she loves splashing around in and getting everything around her wet- though she still needs to learn to not pee in the pool! When you give her belly rubs, she will smile, her cute attempt to mimic our human behavior. Her favorite behavior to preform for us is "shake." She loves to do it, even without being asked!

Ellie was so excited when the snow melted. She ran fast and hard- her favorite thing to do. Unfortunately, when she was running, she tore her CCL, a ligament in a dog's knee that keeps it aligned. We took her to the veterinarian for sedation X-rays. The vet said that she is expected a full recovery if we go through with the surgery. Without surgery she will require euthanasia.

This is an unexpected major expense- more than $3,500 out of pocket. We unfortunately don't have that kind of money- as much as it breaks our heart to say so. Without surgery, the most humane and painless option for her is euthanasia.