Help Tyson

     Hello and welcome to Tyson's website. He is a gorgeous 4 year old rescued  English Mastiff, that is in desperate need of your help.

Here is his story;

    His original owners noticed he started having problems getting up and moving around, so they took him to the vet. The vet wanted to do testing and start him on a treatment program, but the owners refused. They let his condition get worse and did nothing about it. In September of 2010 they took him to a shelter and abandoned him.

    At this time we where volunteering with an English Mastiff rescue & had become foster parents. We knew we couldn't afford another dog, but we wanted to help these needy dogs until they could be adopted. On 9-18-10 we got a call that we needed to meet another volunteer an hour away to pick up Tyson. This volunteer had driven almost 2 hours to a shelter to rescue him. How could we say no. Later that evening we got home with a new addition to our family. We realized very quickly that Tyson was in a lot of pain and of course was filthy. He had eye drainage, his ears were dirty, nails not trimmed, & just over all had been neglected. The worst part of it was the pain he was in. He couldn't get out of the car without help, & fell down the 3 steps off our back porch. He struggled to get up and if he did get excited, and try to play, his rear end would just collapse out from under him. He was in rough shape. We were fearful of what we had gotten oursevles into.

     We notified the rescue of his condition & were assured that they would cover his vet bills. That we needed to take him to the vet the next day and (here's the catch) that if he didn't cooperate, that we were to “PUT HIM DOWN” and not come back home with him. He had just lost his family, put in a shelter, had a stranger pick him up, then we picked him up, & brought him to a strange home, then 2 days later went to the vet. You better believe he was a unhappy. Of course he didn't know who he could trust or what was going on, not to mention the pain he was in. Needless to say, we took him to the vet, it didn't go well. (Looking back we never should of took him that soon, he needed time to adjust & build a bond with us). We didn't sign up to be the Grim Reaper, so we took him home(against the rescue's instructions). That didn't go over with to well with them, they wanted to take Tyson back. We jumped in to protect mode, & knew we had to do whatever it took to keep Tyson safe. After several other volunteers expressed the fact that this situation was wrong & against what the rescue was about, we finally were given the opportunity to legally adopt Tyson.

     We are happy we got him, but felt let down by the rescue, because now we have a HUGE financial burden on our hands. We love Tyson with all our hearts, and wouldn't change a thing. We  believe it happened for a reason, & we are going to make the best out of it. We will do everything possible to give our big boy a good life. We might not be able to fix all of his problems but we can make him more comfortable & be in a little less pain.

Here is our English Mastiff Tyson. This was during his trip to Ohio State University.
This is when we found out that he has bilateral cranical cruciate ligament(CCL) ruptures in his hind legs. These are ruptures of ligaments that stabilize the knee. In order to correct this, he needs a tibial plateau leveling osteotomy surgery(TPLO). The right knee needs to be done immediately, with the left knee following 6-8 weeks later, allowing for recovery time. Each surgery is going to cost around $3,300.00. We are trying everything possible to raise money to accomplish this as soon as possible.