Ruby is a 10-year-old Golden Retreiver in Morristown, NJ, who needs $2,000 for cruciate surgery.

Ruby and her sister Ariel became a part of our family shortly after my mom and I moved to New Jersey 10 years ago. We live in a good sized house with an electrically fenced yard complete with a huge bush that the pups love to hide in! As for the house itself, it's got 2 wonderful dog beds as well as a couple human ones. Can you guess which they prefer? Ruby especially, she sticks to us like glue.

Ruby has a fun game were she plants herself between our legs and begins to dance, stomping her back legs around. She tries her hardest to be a lapdog, all 65 pounds of her. She steals the center of the bed every night and takes every opportunity to cuddle. Her favorite treat? Carrots, hands down. All we need to do is promise that orange vegetable, and she comes running.

Finances are horrible right now. Our primary income came from my mom, a freelance musician who is almost completely out of work during covid. The rest comes from my grandmother's savings, but is quickly vanishing for groceries, property tax, and other necessities.

A few months ago, right after she got surgery to remove a benign eye growth, Ruby started limping on her back leg. Turns out she tore her doggy ACL, and it needed surgery to heal. Forgoing the surgery most certainly would have shortened her life, and we would not let that happen. Our vet, Morristown Animal Hospital, and their amazing staff worked their magic and now our little pup is in recovery.

Ruby is a ray of sunshine. She loves everyone she's ever met and never ceases to brighten the mood. She loves her sister deeply, whining whenever they're kept apart for more than a few seconds. She loves attention more than anything. We think she has a superpower, too: whenever we need her to move from a comfy spot, she suddenly weighs 300 pounds! It's absolutely mystifying. More research needed.