A Penticton family is looking for help to cover veterinary bills after their daughter’s autism service dog was rushed into surgery Wednesday night.
Joy Tunold says Tyr has been specially trained to assist her 10-year-old daughter Lydia who has high functioning autism. However, last night the dog had to be taken to the vet in Kelowna and went straight in to surgery.
“They had confirmed that he had eaten a toy. It had gotten knotted up into his bowels. His bowels had started to shut down. They got everything out but now he is in stable-critical condition. Our main concern is getting Tyr better so he can get back to his best friend Lydia,” says Tunold.
Tunold says they are now dealing with infection issues and a second surgery may be needed. She says the current cost estimate for the dog’s medical care is between $2,600 and $3,600. However, Tunold says that cost will likely rise if a second surgery is needed.
“We have savings but not near enough to cover everything and…we went ahead and had them do the first surgery but with the ongoing medical conditions that Tyr is under it makes it much more difficult. The more care he needs the less we are able to meet those needs for him and to get him back to Lydia.”
Tunold says the service dog has increased her daughters quality of life tremendously aiding her in a number of ways. Tunold explains that Lydia started out as a bolter.
“She would run whenever something would stress her out or she would just get the impulse to run and she would run,” says Tunold. “Lydia is tethered to Tyr so she can’t run away.”
The service dog also helps Lydia work on eye contact.
“She practices reading to him so it helps her build up the confidence to look at people in the eye. He also just helps her deal with overwhelming experiences of just life in general because many autistic children find everyday normal things in life too overwhelming,” says Tunold.
The family is now hoping for help to fund Tyr’s care. Their fundraising site can be found here.
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