The plight of a seriously ill German shepherd has sparked outrage after his owner left him to be euthanized at a vet ER.
Mishka’s situation was brought to the attention of many on social media by a video posted on TikTok by Sunshine Animal Rescue showing how he was effectively left “alone” to die by his former owners.
Lauren Dawson from Sunshine Animal Rescue said Newsweek: “Mishka was taken to the ER by his former owners. When they heard his care would be $2,500, they chose to euthanize him. The owners left.”
The annual cost of owning and caring for a dog can range from $1,000 to $5,225 a year, according to research by pet care services company Rover.com.
Add in the potential costs of emergency care like the kind Mishka needed and perhaps it’s understandable that many won’t or can’t afford that kind of bill.
But what angered many TikTok viewers of Mishka’s story was the fact that her owner simply raised her up and let her be euthanized on her own. “Honestly, not many people in the world have $2,500 to spend on a pet, let alone ourselves. But if I knew I couldn’t save them, I’d be by their side through it all,” one viewer wrote. .
“I took a stray to the vet, he was beyond saving… I stayed with him. He booped my nose with his before he passed. I could never leave an animal ever,” a second added. A third wrote: “When they asked me if we wanted to stay in the room when our son was dropped off, it broke my heart for the vet to tell me that some owners just leave before they pass.”
Mishka came within an hour after going to bed. Dawson said it was an “absolute miracle” that he didn’t. “The ER contacted several rescuers and Jim Bradley, an independent Belgian Malinois rescuer, heard about Mishka,” she said.
“She posted about him on her Facebook account and people started sharing it. At this point, the post was shared and I saw it. I called the vets. Totally unsure how we were going to cover her expenses , I said please don’t put him to sleep, we’ll get him.”
Dawson said a lot about Mishka’s life before she went to the ER was “unknown.” “She is very underweight and was severely sick. For days, we were not sure if she would live,” she said. “A doctor and other rescuers mentioned that he might be living outside.”
In Dawson’s opinion, it was “clear that negligence was involved for Mishka to have this disease.” When he entered the ER, he had a fever and a temperature of 107.9.
“The first few days her odds were very low she could hardly get up. It was 50/50 if she would even survive this,” she said. “She wouldn’t eat, she couldn’t even breathe without her oxygen machine… she was in really bad shape.”
Dawson suspects that Mishka’s illness started with an upper respiratory infection that progressed and became worse. At the height of his illness, he estimates Mishka was going through about $400 worth of fluids every day.
But, despite remaining medically dependent at the time of writing, Mishka has begun to respond well to his treatment and is expected to live. In time, and after more rest and healing, Dawson hopes that Mishka will find a new home and an owner who will never leave her side again in times of trouble.
“Mishka is a very beautiful woman,” he said. “He’s great with every person and pet he meets. He’ll do wonders in a house with a yard or on a farm!”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is dedicated to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is dedicated to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in search of common ground.