Rey is a 11-year-old Australian Cattle Dog in Roselle, IL, who needs $2,000 for CT Scan and Suspected Splenectomy.

Rey's story is pretty wild. I'm a disabled veteran and needed a service dog ASAP. Unfortunately back in 2016, the wait list for the 20+ organisations I called was 1+ year, so I thought fast and found Rey at PAWS North Shore in Highland Park. She is deaf, but bonded so instantly with me and understood my triggers, that I intensely trained her for 6-8 months to be the best service dog she can be.

When we're in the living room, Rey loves to sleep on her coolaroo bed between my fiancé and I. She gives our cats Simba and Sunny lots of face kisses, which they tolerate, while also trying to shy away from her vast tongue! On class days, Rey vests up and becomes her working-minded self to help me through my days, followed by plenty of dental treats and face scritches as reward for a great job!

Rey is such a sweet, loving dog; almost to a fault, really. Since I take her around with me a lot, her feet are sometimes stepped on by strangers, but she's never mean or bites, or even makes a sound - she just looks up with her doe eyes asking, "why?" I can't express how gentle and truly kind she is, while also quick to catch on to new tasks and commands like she was born to.

Last week, Rey was seen by the VCA Arboretum View ER, where the ER vet told us that she has a large tumour in her abdomen. She quickly needs a CT scan to verify placement to proceed with urgent surgery. Her surgeon, Dr Brittany Abrams, has high hopes for prognosis if surgery is done quickly. If the tumour is on her spleen and it needs taken out, she may need heart monitoring moving forward.

I am a permanent, totally disabled veteran on disability, and my fiancé was a newly licensed, part-time therapist for all of 2023 - our need is significant. As Rey is my service dog, I rely on her for daily tasks with PTSD and other health issues, but I also just adore her!