White Sox Pitcher Mark Buehrle Pays Vet Bills for Dog Shot by Arrow

A Shetland sheep dog with an arrow shot through its abdomen is recovering from surgery today.

Rescue workers in Alton discovered the dog early yesterday morning with an arrow protruding from both its sides and rushed the animal to a local veterinarian. A microchip embedded in the dog enabled authorities to track down the dog's owners, who, while upset by the news, said they had no way of paying the estimated $2,400 in veterinarian bills the surgery would require.

Enter Chicago White Sox ace Mark Buehrle. Buehrle grew up across the Mississippi River from Alton in St. Charles County and has reportedly agreed to cover all the veterinarian bills to see the dog recover.

Buehrle is reportedly a big dog lover, having donated before to animal shelters. He's also a big-time hunter -- with a big-ass truck -- who knows a thing or two about bows and arrows. He was bow hunting in 2007 when he bagged himself a black bear.

Click to expand...

I wonder if the vet would have just let the dog die if Buehrle hadn't stepped up...

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/12/mark_buehrle_saves_dog_shot_by_arrow.php

MaggieD said:

I wonder if the vet would have just let the dog die if Buehrle hadn't stepped up...

White Sox Pitcher Mark Buehrle Pays Vet Bills for Dog Shot by Arrow - St. Louis News - Daily RFT

Click to expand...

Never mind the vet. I think the big story here is Buehrle. Kudos to him.

NOTE: Plenty of people die of cancer every year, who cannot afford treatment. Does that make the doctors bad people?

danarhea said:

Never mind the vet. I think the big story here is Buehrle. Kudos to him.

NOTE: Plenty of people die of cancer every year, who cannot afford treatment. Does that make the doctors bad people?

Click to expand...

I posted the entire thread as a kudo to him.

MaggieD said:

I wonder if the vet would have just let the dog die if Buehrle hadn't stepped up...

White Sox Pitcher Mark Buehrle Pays Vet Bills for Dog Shot by Arrow - St. Louis News - Daily RFT

Click to expand...

Most vets I know will work with people through discounts/making payments. However sometimes this will still put a real strain on someone financially. Kudo's to Mark!
More about my experience with vets. Many give their time and discounts to shelters and rescues and also offer spay and neuter at really fair prices.

I would have spent the money on a person. I guess it's good what he did, but in the long run it wasn't what is best. A dog is a dog :shrug:

digsbe said:

I would have spent the money on a person. I guess it's good what he did, but in the long run it wasn't what is best. A dog is a dog :shrug:

Click to expand...

If you were rushed to the emergency room with an arrow piercing your entire body you wouldn't have to pay a single penny if you couldn't afford it.
The cost of money doesn't matter at all when it comes to people showing up needing emergency care - that always is discussed AFTER care is given.

But when you take an animale to a vet they discuss *cost* first thing because so many people believe "a dog is a dog" and so the vet being able to maintain his business (hence - money) is important - there is no goverment and state assistance to cover the loss for write-offs as there are with human-care situations.

When I took my dog in to fix his eye over the summer the bill was 800 up front - and I had to pre-determine, before his surgery, how much more we would let them go should Jack have allergic reactions to the meds and suffer trauma during surgery. . . I had to sign the forms and commit a set amount of money or else they wouldn't have operated on him.

digsbe said:

I would have spent the money on a person. I guess it's good what he did, but in the long run it wasn't what is best. A dog is a dog :shrug:

Click to expand...

Yeah, I definitely get it that most people think the way you do. I'm a real dog person, though, and when I own a dog, he's like a member of my family. Josh had to have emergency treatment for a serious prostate infection just after we got him. It was $1,100 up front on a total estimate of $1,800. We were lucky we could afford it and never blinked an eye. Except to marvel at the expense of it all. We just found out that Josh has a tumor -- we won't be treating it. He's getting along famously, and we're grateful. He had to have an ultrasound for the diagnosis. It was $525. That's more than I paid for one I had. Hmmmm.....

Vet care has gotten prohibitively expensive in the last 5-10 years. I feel sorry for our pets as I know that most families can't afford to spend much on the care of their pets. That means pets are suffering. And being put down. Sad. Sad. Sad.

Mark Buehrle Rocks

digsbe said:

I would have spent the money on a person. I guess it's good what he did, but in the long run it wasn't what is best. A dog is a dog :shrug:

Click to expand...

He did a good thing.. Why try to diminish this act of kindness?

I am sure he probably does things to help Human Animals too. Lets not try to pour cold water on this, ok?

He bow-hunts and lives nearby, and he somehow heard about a dog with an arrow wound the owner couldn't afford to have treated before the dog expired.... Hmmm.

Manc Skipper said:

He bow-hunts and lives nearby, and he somehow heard about a dog with an arrow wound the owner couldn't afford to have treated before the dog expired.... Hmmm.

Click to expand...

And, there we have it, folks. Another installment of "things that make you go Hmmm". :mrgreen: