Success Story 

Garth had a tough start at life, coming from Wolf Point, Montana, where he was found under a porch with 6 broken bones at just 3 months old. He was taken by a puppy rescue team to a Bozeman shelter where they tried to use a handful of pins to get his leg back into shape.  We fostered Garth during that period, and fell in love with the thud of his cast hitting the floor every morning. When we decided to adopt Garth, the cast finally came off only to show a healed, but badly twisted foot. At this point, the “work was done” from the shelter, but we knew it was far from over. That’s where Dr. Desmarais at Lone Peak Vet came in. We brought Garth to his first appointment with Dr. Desmarais for an evaluation. She was honest about Garth's needs, what kind of work it would take, and explained all of his options thoroughly. His best chance at a pain-free life was to remove his leg. We quickly realized that we would need to buy more time in order to save enough money for the surgery. Garth was always playful, sweet, beaming with positivity, and never showed his pain. Soon, however, small hints pointed to the decline of his health. He wasn’t eating, and his foot had an infection from the pins. He went on antibiotics, but Dr. Desmarais knew the surgery should be scheduled as soon as we were able to. We were still not at a point of being able to afford it, but she stepped in to perform the surgery at a steeply discounted rate. Everyone at Lone Peak Vet treated Garth like he was their own, and I saw how they provided him so much comfort before, during, and after his amputation. We are forever grateful for the generosity and financial assistance we received from Dr. Desmarais. Since the success of his surgery, Garth has been living free of pain and can focus on being a puppy.