Big Valley Animal Rescue, a nonprofit that avoids animal euthanasia, has a huge bill to pay after providing veterinary care to at least 40 animals, BVAR co-ordinator and transport co-ordinator Haley Warwick esteemed.
On Thursday, their balance was $9,722.94. On Friday, Warwick said the bill had risen to around $10,000.
“I would say after our payments today, it will probably be around $9,000,” she said Friday.
The money covered basic checks such as injections, heartworm testing, disease prevention and sterilization as well as more serious surgeries. Some dogs needed significant medical attention.
“For example, we had a dog that was removed from Chattahoochee Humane a few weeks ago and he had a tumor in his chest. And he had severe heartworm,” Warwick said.
BVAR paid around $1,200 to treat the dog.
“About a month ago we shot a dog…she had to have, like, four surgeries, so we spent about $4,000 on her,” Warwick said. “She also has severe heartworm disease. Just years of neglect.
The big bill also covers boarding costs, as BVAR does not have enough host families. BVAR pulls as many animals as it can afford from the Chattahoochee Humane Society to prevent euthanasia.
Warwick said there is no deadline to pay the bill, but BVAR aims to get it paid as soon as possible so it can continue to save animals from euthanasia. BVAR does not want to be overwhelmed by debts. Their goal is to pay the bill before taking more animals, but Warwick said they could take more animals first if they could afford it.
It is not uncommon for BVAR to owe so much money. Warwick said their vet bills were this high about once every two months.
“It depends on what’s going on medically with some of our animals,” she said.
BVAR sometimes, but not always, gets money in a timely manner.
“We have good donors who are quite consistent,” she said. “We call them and say, ‘Hey, we really have to pay this bill’ or ‘We have this really bad medical case.’ And they will help us. And our partners in other states will also help us if they can…but we also attract animals that don’t have commitments. And those are like the dog, Salem, that we just shot that was $1,200. She had no commitment. So we are obligated to fundraise for all of that $1,200.
Warwick explained the engagements. BVAR has northern rescue partners in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia who are committed to taking in some of BVAR’s animals for adoption in the north.
The number of animals likely to be euthanized if BVAR does not save them varies each week.
“We just removed four puppies from the shelter on Wednesday because they were going to euthanize two dogs,” she said. “So it depends on how full the shelter is. But every week we have to shoot between, I would say three to four dogs.
Warwick said any donations would be appreciated.
Donors can send money to BVAR via PayPal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/bigvalleyanimal, via Venmo to @bigvalleyrescue and via Cash App to $bigvalleyrescue.
