Cork woman faced with €4,000 vet bill for ‘adored’ dog Angel after freak injury

The one-year old Rottweiler has been left immobile until her owner Lily Martin (19) can fund the operation.

Lily told sundayworld.com that she has been “worried sick” ever since her dog started limping, as mounting veterinary bills leave her wondering how she can afford the pup’s care.

Angel ruptured a vital ligament in her knee while the inseparable pair were out walking in their local area of Douglas.

The initial trip to the vet set Lily back €140 just to have Angel seen and to get her pain relief.

She is returning on Friday for an x-ray that will cost €400 – and later a surgery she was told will cost anywhere between €3,000 and €4,000.

"It is already coming to over €500 before she even receives any treatment,” Lily said.

"I just don’t know what to do. I don’t know what I’d do without her, she’s been with me since she was eight weeks old and I would do anything for her.

"So it is made even worse that I have no idea how I will be able to do this.”

Lily said her and her family are at a loss, as the vet offers no way of paying in installments: if Angel needs surgery, they must pay up front.

"I have been trying my best to bring the money together in any way I can,” she said. “But we just don’t have it and I’m desperate. I don’t know who would have it.”

Lily has now set up a GoFundMe page to try and raise some of the money needed to care for her beloved pooch,

"She is my rock, she is literally my other half,” the Cork teenager said. “She comes everywhere with me and I haven’t left the house since she was hurt, I’ve just been looking after her – she has always had better dinners than I’ve had myself!”

Although the Rottweiler breed gets a bad reputation, Lily said it couldn’t be further from the truth.

Angel is “adored” and a bit of a local celebrity, she laughed: “she is so friendly and a real pet, everyone would know her and we’re always together.”

"It’s so sad this has happened,” Lily said, as Angel has her whole life ahead of her.

"It is likely she will never be able to run around again in the way she did, but I just don’t want her to be in pain.

"It can’t go on like this, if it does I’m worried it will become unfixable.”

Family members suggested Lily try raise the funds on GoFundMe and she is already grateful for all the donations and support from the people of Cork.

Lily worries she is in a race against time to get Angel the care she needs.

“She is the best girl, Angel is my whole entire world and if anything ever happened her I would lose myself,” she said.

"She has taken me out of a lot of dark places and been my shoulder to cry on when I needed someone.

"I don’t know where I would be today without her. Her injury is worsening as the days pass and I am really financially stuck in this situation.”