£5K BILL FOR OWNER WHO SAVED LIFE OF HIS PET DOG
Animal collapsed and needed emergency op – now insurer is refusing to cough up
DOG owner Ashley Swift has been left £5,000 out of pocket – after vets saved his pet’s life.
Ashley was left with the bill after Caucasian mountain shepherd Bella collapsed in the early hours of Friday.
The dog was diagnosed with a twisted stomach and a ruptured spleen and faced being put down without emergency surgery.
Now the 29-year-old delivery driver, from Biddulph, has launched an online appeal for financial assistance after his insurer refused to pay out.
Ashley said: “It was horrible. I have had her since she was six weeks old. I’ve spent every day with her. It was traumatic and the most horrible experience I have ever had.”
Ashley took Bella to the emergency vet where she underwent emergency surgery. He added: “It broke my heart. I can go to work every day to earn money - I can’t get another Bella. It’s one of the things I have feared every day since I got her. I researched the breed for three years.”
BELOVED PET: Ashley and his stepdaughters with Bella.
Now Ashley has turned to Gofundme for an online appeal as he faces having to pay up by July 16.
He added: “This is my last resort - we are quite a proud family. At the time, I didn’t know what to do.
“I’d pay anything for her. But I haven’t got that sort of money lying around. She had a four-hour operation. They saved her life.”
The insurer has refused to pay out after five-year-old Bella underwent an operation in March following an issue with a mammogram.
Ashley added: “I don’t want anybody knocking on the door about repossession. It’s quite outrageous that it was that much. If I have to work constantly for the next three or four years, at least I’ve still got my dog.”