Donate To The Scout Fund
The Scout Fund was created to pay tribute to loved pets that have been lost, to help pets and their owners who may need a little extra financial support and to provide a means for gifts that are made to Seattle Veterinary Specialists to be used for the care of the community's pets and our neighbors. It is named after a very special Border Collie who helped teach numerous veterinarians and veterinary students the power of determination.
 The Scout Fund was established in the memory of a very special dog who not only overcame great physical trauma, but in the course of his recovery taught future veterinarians the power of determination.
Scout was hit by a truck and suffered a broken back in two places and severe trauma to one of his forearms and his head. Initially, it was thought that Scout could not walk after his injury due to the severe trauma to his arm. His forearm required amputation and after a month of recovery and healing, he was still not able to walk. His owner brought him to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University where Dr. Sanders was in the third year of his Neurology Residency. Dr. Sanders performed an MRI on Scout and found that his spine was broken in two places. Unfortunately, Scout’s owner could not afford the surgery and care that would be necessary for his recovery. One of the fractures was fairly straightforward, however, the other was very unique and not one that either Dr. Sanders, his fellow residents or any of the faculty had ever seen. Using teaching funds, the three residents at WSU repaired Scout’s fractured spine. The surgery went well, but Scout after having a forelimb amputated and two spinal surgeries was in a state of severe muscle atrophy and would require an extensive amount of physical therapy and hospitalization in order to have a chance of getting better. Over the course of another 4 months, while being cared for by over 16 veterinary students, five residents and several faculty members Scout took his first steps on his own.
During his recovery, there was no doubt that his life was not what most people would think was acceptable for a pet. It was difficult at times to explain to those that were taking care of Scout that there was improvement and albeit very slow, it was happening. The easy thing to do would be to euthanize Scout and move on to the next case. However, the determined border collie had other plans. He continued to improve and slowly gained back his muscle mass, learned to walk with three legs and healed from his other injuries. It took a total of five surgeries to repair Scout but the real reason he got better was his spirit and determination. Due to circumstances beyond his control, Scout’s owner had to find him a new home. A few days after taking him home, he contacted Dr. Sanders and regrettably asked if there were any students that would be able to give Scout a home. Dr. Sanders said that should not be a problem since while at WSU he had touched so many future veterinarian’s lives. In the end Scout never left Dr. Sanders home and went on to have a wonderful four more years with the Sanders’ and their three other dogs. During his time at WSU all of the people who took care of Scout learned how a body can heal and what technically had to be done to take care of him. They also learned that as long as you keep seeing improvement, there is cause to continue. Most importantly they learned that when you choose the easy solution, you may never know what is possible for a lack of trying. It is only when we push ourselves to the limit that we can appreciate the results of hard work. Some would say that Scout really had no say in the decisions that were made for him. Those that took care of Scout would argue that more than any other patient, he was telling us everyday not to give up. They were critically evaluating him on a daily basis to make sure that we were doing the right thing. And he was telling them through his gentle manner, determination and improvement that they were doing the right thing.
No matter what case we see on a daily basis, it is important to give it our best efforts. Sometime, even with the best intentions, for whatever circumstance, we are not able to help the pets that we love. It is our hope that by establishing this fund, those circumstances will not have to include financial reasons. The goal of the Scout fund is to provide money for pets and their people in circumstances where money might be the only limiting factor for that pet to be able to continue to have a meaningful life and help to teach future and current veterinarians.
If you would like to make a donation, please contact Melissa Smith at . |
