Leo is a 13-year-old Lab Retriever/Husky/German Shepherd mix in sumter, SC, who needs $1,500 for Lymphoma, Blind.

Twelve years ago my husband and I adopted Leo. I knew I would love Leo when we walked into the tiny trailer he lived in. He jumped up on me to say hello, put his front paws on my chest and almost knocked me backwards out of the trailer. It was not aggression; we could tell he was being his goofy self. I knew right from the start that this was an interesting dog and I was hooked.

Everybody we know loves Leo. His beautiful brown eyes and sweet playful nature has endeared him to our family, friends and neighbors. We have had some hard times and there was Leo, always ready to comfort us. He always knows when any of us are upset and he tries to make us feel better. He is almost more like a human than a dog.

As a young dog, he could jump so high in the air that it looked like he was sailing thru the air when playing catch. He had the ability to resemble a deer jumping when running in our yard. The neighborhood kids loved watching him. Leo’s antics over the years has given us so much laughter and joy. He is a good watch dog, loves children and is just a wonderful, good all around dog.

Leo was diagnosed with Lymphoma Type B in November 2021and a secondary eye infection that caused him to be partially to mostly blind. The prognosis for his eyesight returning is guarded. He is undergoing chemotherapy and seeing an eye specialist at CVETS hospital in Columbia, S.C His chemo sessions are almost ended and hopefully will cause the cancer to go into remission.

My husband and I are retired, on Social Security and we have almost run out of our savings paying for Leo’s treatment. Paying for continuing treatment will be very hard for us. We cannot imagine our lives without him. We estimate the remaining cost to at $2,000.