Joe is a 10-year-old Boxer in San Ramon, CA, who needs $1,784 for a mass removal.

Joe is ten years old and hasn’t had an easy life. His most recent family adopted him from a rescue group a little over 2.5 years ago – we don’t know anything about his history before then. Joe’s family lost everything in the Camp Fire in November 2018. They had a home in Paradise, CA which was destroyed. Joe’s family is still trying to get back on their feet and unfortunately can no longer keep him. Joe was kept in several different boarding kennels after the fire and wasn’t doing well. He was very stressed, scared and unhappy in the kennel environment. Joe’s family wanted to do what is best for Joe and made the heart-wrenching decision to give him up rather than have him wait for them when they have no certainty of having a place to keep him.

That’s where I came into the picture. I’m Joe’s foster mom. Many dogs who are stressed in kennels do really well once they are out of that environment, and I wanted to give Joe a chance. And guess what? It worked! Joe is a sweet, loving and playful dog and gets along well with my family- kids, dogs, and cats.

But Joe also has trust issues – he is wary of people he doesn’t know which is making it more difficult for me to find him a new home. But I’m not giving up, and in the meantime, Joe has a few medical issues that need to be cleared up to help his chances of adoption.

Joe was coughing up blood. I brought him to the vet and he was diagnosed with bronchitis, which we’re treating with medication. He also has two cancerous lumps (one is a mast cell tumor) on his back leg, which need to be removed to prevent them from spreading.

That’s why I’m posting him here. I’m hoping to raise money to pay for Joe’s surgery.