Help Kulu Beat Cancer Fund
Kulu means "Baby" in Inuktitut
Our beautiful girl Kulu has cancer. This is a devastating diagnosis but we are lucky that we caught it early and the prognosis is good. The cancer is localized to a lesion on her anal sac, which will be surgically removed next week. The cancer has not metastasized or spread to any other parts of her body. With the surgery, the doctor said that she could live at least another three years. The surgery is expensive, but we are determined to give this remarkable dog the best chance to continue living and enjoying her life with our family and her little companion Bngii. Kulu loves walks, playing in the snow, chasing Bngii, meeting new people and is such a joyful happy, well mannered girl.
We want to share Kulu‘s life story with you so that you understand how far this dog has come with her gentle demeanor, and a life that was marked by grief and neglect Before she came to us.
We
rescued Kulu in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. An ad on
Kijiji showed a blurry photo of a German Shepherd, laying on her
Scooby-Doo blanket with the saddest eyes. We drove all the way to
North Bay where we picked up a weak, terrified and emaciated German
Shepherd. As we brought her home, we realized that she was in
full-blown heat, malnourished and suffering from neglect. We
discovered that the owner had lied to us and that this dog was
actually a retired guard dog who spent her whole life in an automotive
yard. She was born alongside her sister, another German Shepherd who
she guarded the automotive yard with since birth. She had never seen
the inside of a home and was described as perpetually “dirty”. When
she was five years old, the owner unceremoniously retired her and
separated her from her German Shepard sister, the only companion she
ever knew in the world. She was then transported alone across Ontario
to North Bay, where we found her in severe neglect and poor health.
We took her to Toronto and we discovered this beautiful dog was abused by the way she cowered at everything, was too terrified to approach any humans or dogs and had an almost complete incapacity to navigate indoor life. She would bump into everything, had major stomach issues, bowel incontinence and was generally terrified. She would cry all day and all night day long. We knew she was grieving her German Shepard sister that she was seperated from. With patience, love, veterinary care and help from a compassionate dog trainer (Don Hutton) we were able to nurse her back to health. She went literally everywhere with us.
It took 2 years for Kulu to heal emotionally and mentally enough to tolerate contact with other humans and dogs. She became a caregiver to a bichon poodle puppy we adopted in 2022, and really came out of her shell as a mommy to the new puppy and in late 2022 we welcomed our son Ulluriat who Kulu was so gentle and kind with. She is our family dog, and we each share very special relationships with her that mean the world. She also has a strong dog community here in Toronto and people who love her.
Your donation would go directly to covering the cost of her surgery. We are doing our best to cover a portion of the cost through extra odd jobs and selling some of our items to raise funds. Kulu is otherwise very healthy and is expected to make a full recovery following the surgery. Thank you/ Miigwech/ Nakurmiik
*photo of the cost and detailed breakdown for the procedure here*
