Jefferson is an 8-year-old Boxer in Saint Louis, MO, who needs $2,000 for a lung lobectomy.

Jefferson has been part of my life for almost 4 years now. I was fostering through a rescue that worked with our vet clinic. We had another boxer who needed a playmate and since we felt comfortable with the breed we decided that the rescue had a male boxer for foster that our female would have a field day chasing each other around the backyard. I received him in April 2015, when the rescue seized him from a breeder down in the boothill, after being with the clinic for a few months. When I got him home we noticed that he was deathly afraid of males and any unknown noises. His safe spot was his kennel in which he would lay in day and night with the door open. We would have to go out in the backyard for him to go outside to potty.  Whenever a sound he wasn't familiar to was heard he darted for his kennel or when a male walked into the room. You could tell the breeder had to been male and not treated him appropriately. After a few months of desensitizing him from males and as many sounds as possible we started attending events and met up with a few potential adopters. We had no luck because his true personality wouldn't come out to strangers as it did with our family. I realized at that time that he was meant to be with our family and would keep growing into the amazing dog he is today.