Picture of a Good Samaritan: P.E.I. photographer comes to aid of sick dog
A P.E.I. photographer is pitching in to help cover the veterinary bill of a person she's never met, all because of her love for German shepherds.
Amy Arsenault, from Richmond, P.E.I., heard through a friend that a dog in her community was "not doing so well," and that the family was looking for help in paying rising vet costs.
"I'm obsessed with German shepherds because I own two myself," she said. Arsenault read the Facebook post, which detailed the condition of a shepherd named Karma, owned by a family who also lives in Richmond.
Arsenault saw the dog required extensive surgery at the Atlantic Veterinary College and she couldn't imagine if one of her pets was that ill. "It just wasn't setting with me well. There has to be something I can do," she remembered thinking at the time she read the post.
A photographer by trade, Arsenault figured she would put her talents to work to raise money for the family.
She then created a campaign called Do You Believe in Karma? which asks Islanders to sign up for a paid photo shoot with their pet, with all proceeds going toward the vet bills.
'She's our daughter'
Karma's health failure was gradual, over the course of a few weeks, and severe. The four-year-old shepherd is owned by Jillian Cameron and she said her dog became unwell — throwing up, not eating and eventually wasn't having bowel movements.
During a visit to the Kensington Veterinary Clinic, veterinarians noticed a blockage in the dog's bowels, so the dog was taken to the AVC in Charlottetown. Veterinarians performed surgery, repositioning the dog's spleen and fixing organs that had "telescoped."
"The mass ended up basically blocking off her entire intestine, so they had to remove a lot of her intestine to repair it," Cameron said. "There was actually other organs mixed up into her intestines because they telescoped on her."
Karma had some "complications" post-surgery where she wouldn't eat, Cameron said, but she recovered enough to go home on Thursday. Before bringing her home, the family faced a steep veterinary bill — totalling around $13,000 altogether — which was paid for by a family member, Cameron said.
The family didn't have pet insurance and having the dog euthanized was not what they wanted. "She's the love of our life, for sure, she's our daughter. She's not a dog to us," Cameron said.
Hopes this inspires others
Arsenault's goal to help cover the expense is to have 100 photoshoots, each at a cost of $100, so she can contribute $10,000 to help pay for the dog's life-saving surgery.
"I feel good at the end of the day knowing that I did try to do something instead of turning a blind eye," Arsenault said. "I can probably sleep a little better knowing that I helped in some sort of way and, you know, it might inspire someone else."
Even though they live in the same small rural community, the two hadn't met before and haven't yet met in person.
"I just can't believe Amy would put something together like this," Cameron said, holding back tears. "It's amazing. It really, really touches my heart.
"This girl has never met me, but yet she is staying up all night making flyers for me and Karma and our family. I have no words."
"She just seems like such a really nice person that I'm enjoying to get to know," Arsenault said about Cameron.
When it's all settled down, Arsenault said the two "most definitely" have to meet, and have their German shepherds play together.
"They're a breed of their own, anyone who has one kind of knows what we're talking about," she said.
By early Friday afternoon 16 Islanders had signed up for Arsenault's offer.
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