Dogs and Other Unsolicited Advice Foundation is a non-profit that was created out of a love for all animals big and small. As pet owners ourselves we know that you can’t always be prepared for the worst, and our four-legged friends often pick times of struggle to need the best of care. Facing losing man’s best friend over an unexpected vet bill due to a surgery or emergency situation is a position no one wants to find themselves in. The goal of our foundation is to support and guide qualified applicants through these often-emotional times with financial relief in the form of partial or complete payment of covered services.
You see, we know first hand just what this decision feels like, just like so many pet families we’ve been faced with the mounting vet bills to give a dog the pain free happy life they deserve. Meet Kain, the blue-eyed boy that started it all. Kain was just a puppy when he was found in the hot sun, locked in a crate and covered with his own urine and feces. His ears had been cut off and he was hungry for food, love and stability when he was rescued by Jeffrey Hoglund. Kain flourished when he realized what home meant, and while emotional and physical hunger were satisfied his physical limitations became obvious. Likely due to poor breeding Kain was barely past his first birthday when knees showed signs of a problem. Diagnosed with a Canine Cruciate Ligament tear (human equivalent of an ACL tear) and a luxating patella in his right knee it was evident that every step for this blue-eyed rescue was painful. In November 2017 Kain underwent his first knee surgery, at $4500.00 it looked like this was the answer to Jeffrey and Katelyn’s prayers for their boy. It wasn’t long into his recovery from right knee surgery that his left knee clearly wasn’t keeping up. In March 2018 Kain went into surgery again, this time not only were they repairing the CCL tear and luxating patella in his left leg, but going back into the right leg to make adjustments to the original CCL repair. This is the moment when most pet parents are faced with a crippling decision, an additional $4500.00 isn’t something that most families have, and many are forced into giving up their beloved pet to a rescue or worse, euthanasia.
Seeing Kain flourish and play with his brothers and sisters was a wonderful feeling and Katelyn took pride in sharing his progress through her Facebook page with an online community she had created. Documenting so much of their lives its easy to see subtle changes from day to day and Katelyn and Jeffrey noticed Kain was still having struggles and in February 2019 a visit to the neurologist showed Degenerative Disc Disease and yet another surgery was scheduled. The quote for this surgery was $6000.00 and with both knee surgeries so recent, the funding just wasn’t there this time. Katelyn thought maybe the online community that had grown to love Kain so much would help spread the word, even just a little help would go a long way. In 33 minutes, the community that had grown to love the Hoglund pack raised $14,000.00, enough to cover Kain’s surgery and just maybe help another family. When the remaining amount was put into its own account, it became apparent that instead of just one more family benefiting from this immense outpouring of love and support there might be a way to pay it forward in Kain’s name for so many other dogs.
In April 2019 Kain got to celebrate his birthday by announcing Dogs and Other Unsolicited Advice Foundation as an official not for profit foundation to provide financial assistance to qualified individuals who have found themselves at a crossroad between finances and companionship.