Joel first showed up at PRCKC with Soco when she was sick with pyometra, a uterine infection that is life-threatening for a dog.

He had been to a vet clinic and, after recently losing his job, realized that paying for emergency care wasn’t going to be easy. He needed help but wasn’t sure what to do. All he knew is that he had to get help for Soco … sooner rather than later.

Joel remembered driving past our clinic on 59th Street and decided a stop was worth a try.

We see pets with pyometra sometimes; we just don’t know it until the spay is underway. Pets can be in the early stages and not present any symptoms, and when the spay happens, surprise: pyometra! Out comes the infected uterus. It isn’t a surgery we perform on its own, but when we have a chance to prevent a much bigger problem, we want to go for it.

This was not one of those cases. Poor Soco had a very, very bad case of pyometra, more than we could handle here at our clinic. We couldn’t help directly with Soco’s condition. Still, we strive to be a resource for the pet-owning community.

“People think of us as a spay neuter program only,” says Michelle, PRCKC CEO. “Pet overpopulation problems go beyond just preventing more litters though. Part of that is helping people keep their pets. That’s why we try to direct them where they need to go. Our mission really is to also about keeping pets with their owners.”

Help for Soco

We assessed Soco’s condition, told Joel about our emergency medical care fund and then recommended Care Credit so Soco could get the surgery she needed at the clinic she was already at and where she was diagnosed.

Even though Joel was recently unemployed, he qualified for enough to get Soco’s surgery … and then some, which gave him some headroom in case something else needed to be done. We sent him on his way with some food so he had that wiggle room, too.

Not long ago, Joel returned to PRCKC with a healthy and happy Soco. He stopped in because he wanted to let us know how grateful he was for the support when things were looking pretty grim. “I don’t know if she would be here without you guys,” Joel offered. “We really appreciate all you’ve done. Once I get back on my feet, I’m going to send you a donation.”

“It’s true,” offers Michelle, “we can’t always provide the service someone from our community needs. But that doesn’t mean we can’t help them find a solution. It really is about us being there for them, making sure they get help, providing someone to lean on who understands how valuable that human animal bond is. That’s really why we’re here.”