By Parker McKenzie
A local Belgrave family who are trying to raise $10,000 for a support dog in trainings’ surgery after discovering severe hip and joint issues has been overwhelmed by the community support so far.
Padfoot, affectionately known by the family as Paddy, is a nearly one-year-old Labrador who is being trained as an emotional support dog for 13-year-old Kai.
Kai’s mother Rachael Vautier said Paddy has been diagnosed by a specialist with severe hip dysplasia.
“We had an x-ray that showed the bone isn’t in the socket at all, so that’s quite extreme,” she said.
“He needs preventative surgery on his other hip and he needs work on his elbows as well. When he added up all the cost of all these things, we’re looking at $25,000.”
Kai’s 13-year-old sister April is now selling origami items like earrings and gift cards and combined with other fundraising the family has raised around $10,000 for Paddy’s surgeries.
Ms Vautier said she thought April might raise a couple of hundred dollars by selling stacks of 10 origami greeting cards.
“She raised $3,000. People have helped so much and we’ve had lots of community support,” she said.
“I didn’t want to ask people for money words, with the origami people were actually buying something that they can use. Once we got that quote, we did put the GoFundMe out there.”
Paddy has been booked in for his hip surgery on 17 August, which is the date of his first birthday but will need further preventative surgeries when the family can financially afford them.
Ms Vautier said while Padfoot isn’t yet fully trained as an emotional support animal, he has already helped the family.
“Paddy was the reason we could get Kai vaccinated because he was in there with him for sedation. He’s got a lot of anxiety and needle phobia,” she said.
“He helps my son when he goes to tutoring and things he would normally shut down about with anxiety.”
She said while she didn’t want to ask for donations until receiving the $25,000 quote, the community has been unbelievable so far in the support offered to their fundraising efforts.
“I posted on a few local Facebook groups and people rallied behind it,” she said.
“With the origami card, they just bought more and more cards. We had around 80 orders.”
You can order April’s origami at foldbyme.com.au and use the code PADDY for 20 per cent off, or visit the family’s fundraising page at gofund.me/c75c8145
