Metro man's friends step in to help after his dog needs surgery
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Dogs are known as man's best friend; for one man in the military, his dog is everything.
Just as he was about to deploy, his seven-year-old Australian shepherd needed expensive surgery, and a lot of questions arose, until his friends stepped in to help.
“It's just me and him. So, you know, it's a big deal,” said Jason Tapp, an aviation technician in the Navy.
Jason tapp and peanut have an unbreakable bond.
“Oh, we play a lot of fetch. And he's a big-time swimmer if you get him around water,” said Tapp.
Peanut has been in Tapp's life for a long time.
“He's my boy. He's more like a son than anything,” said Tapp.
A few weeks ago, peanut took a tumble.
“He not only tore his ACL but a couple of other ligaments in his knee and the cushion pieces to the inside of the knee,” said Dr. Sam mullins, a veterinarian at Reno Animal Hospital.
Dr. Sam Mullins said the number one option for peanut was having surgery.
Tapp had his deployment on his mind and the cost, until some good news came his way.
“I was supposed to go in on detachment, but they ended up keeping me home and sent in somebody else so I can stay home with peanut,” said Tapp.
Tapp’s deployment was deferred and that’s when his friends made a big surprise.
“Next thing I know, one of my buddies is at my doorstep with the money ready to go? Yeah. Yeah, it was a big deal to me,” said Tapp.
“My girls, my team, my staff come running in and they're like, peanut gets to have surgery,” said Dr. Mullins.
Peanut would soon be able to play fetch and swim like nothing happened.
"That's really cool for me to to be a part of an experience that people coming together to to do better for not even their own animals is really, really exciting," said Dr. Mullins.
Peanut had the surgery at Reno Animal Hospital, and while there's still some recovery, Peanut is back up and moving, and Tapp is thankful his best friend is okay.
“He's going to be back to 100%. We can go out and do the things we love to do,” said Tapp.
Dr. Mullins said Peanut will have about eight to ten weeks of recovery and then some physical therapy to get back to his normal active self.