Pepper is a 10 month old Labrador Retriever in Westfield , MA, who needs $5,000 for Surgery on Pyometra, Infection of Uterus.

Pepper is our sweet 10 month old. family dog. Our 9 year old son is in love with her and cares for her in all the responsible ways. She is growing up to be the quintessential lab—wonderful with kids (we have 3,) loves to play fetch, and is a loyal friend to our family. We are fostering two dogs for a family member in crises (these are the vizslas you’ll see in the background of the video.)

. We did not anticipate a 5,000-7,000 hospital bill for Pepper at age 10 months. We had adopted a senior dog 4 years ago and care for him with monthly medications. Pepper is being operated on right now—she has pyrometra, a life-threatening infection of the uterus. She’s at Pieper Veterinary hospital in Middletown CT.

Pepper is the first puppy my boys have had. We are older parents and it felt like such a gift to give the boys a dog so beautiful and high energy and full of spirit. She has been great for the whole family—playful and outgoing, and has given me exercise and my husband too, as he built her a large run out of pallets he dissembled and rebuilt into fencing,

Our income is part Social Security and also manual labor, which is limited due to age. We are careful with our money so we can give the kids a stable life, quality food, and some adventure. We do not have “extra” as in thousands for surgery, yet we couldn’t let her die.