This is Ripley, I rescued her from starvation. 6 months ago I left a very abusive relationship with nothing but the clothes on my back. I moved far away & found myself a little house. 3 months ago my neighbours moved suddenly one morning, I thought nothing of it, I keep to myself so i didn’t know them (turns out they were behind on their rent & moved before they could be evicted). A couple of days later I’m in the back garden & I hear a very quiet whining, I look over the fence & discover they’ve left their dog behind, in fact she’s chained to a post, her food & water bowls empty. I got her out of there & brought her home with me, I fed her, gave her a warm bed, fresh water. The next day I took her to the vet, she was riddled with fleas & worms. I could’ve handed over to a rescue place or the rspca but she put her head in my lap & looked at me with the biggest eyes & I couldn’t do it. The vet checked & she’s not chipped, I rang round all the local vets but she wasn’t registered with any of them so I kept her. I named her Ripley (after the character in the Alien films) because she’s a survivor like me. She is the sweetest girl, she never barks when I found her she had a shock collar on, she whines when she hears raised voices, she flinches if you move to fast. She was broken, just like me, but together we will survive. I got her weight up, got pet insurance for her, all was going well, until she started limping a couple of weeks ago. Another trip to the vet & it turns out she has hip dysplasia & needs a hip replacement I rang the pet insurers & they won’t cover it because they class it as a pre-existing condition. She can’t run in the park, she’s on medication to control the pain. The vet tells me without the operation her quality of life will deteriorate until it would be kinder to have her put to sleep. I can’t do that, shes had such a rough time I just want to make sure she has a happy life. I know I’m asking a lot, but I’d be lost without her, I’m lucky enough to work from home & she lays next to my desk while i work & ive been sleeping on the sofa as she can no longer walk up the stairs to my bedroom. I love her, she’s my girl, please help me make Ripley better.