OGDEN — Elizabeth, from Somerville, Mass., sent a check for $15 and thanked Ogden resident Marc Payet for being “an inspiring animal advocate.”
Chris and Jill, from South Weber, sent a check for $150, declaring Payet’s dog, Willie, as the recipient of their annual holiday donation. The couple read Payet’s story Nov. 27 in the Standard-Examiner, where the dog owner shared his quest to pay for surgery for Willie, a rescued German Shepherd mix who broke then re-broke one of this three legs.
And Kathryn, of Springfield, Mass., sent $100 “toward Willie’s care,” but only after checking with Willie’s orthopedic veterinarian, Dale Smith, of Salt Lake City, to make sure Payet’s story was legit.
“I spoke with Dr. Smith after reading about Willie’s surgery,” Kathryn wrote. “Please forgive me. I am very cautious. He assures me that you are all but a saint and I need to have no concerns.”
So far, 56 people have mailed checks for Willie’s surgery to CAWS (Community Animal Welfare Society), in Clearfield.
“I’ve only written four thank-you letters so far,” said Payet. “I’ve got a lot more thank-you letters to write.”
The article told of Payet’s sacrifices to save his beloved pet after one vet suggested the dog be euthanized, and a second vet, specialist Smith, told Payet about a complex surgery that might fix the leg.
“Marc admitted he had no money to pay for the difficult surgery, and my initial response was I wasn’t going to be able to help him,” Smith said. “But Marc just kept talking about his dog and his life, and how much passion he had for his dogs. As I listened to Marc, there was just something so genuine about him and his love for his dogs. It really gave me pause.”
Payet, 38, paid what he could, and Smith operated on Willie the day before Thanksgiving, taking it on faith that Payet could come up with $2,500, the balance owed for the complex procedure.
The story of Willie and his owner was picked up by websites frequented by pet lovers and veterinarians, and the needed funds started rolling in to CAWS. The smallest check was $5 and the largest was $500.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Susan Allred, CAWS director. “We got checks from Idaho, a lot from Ogden, some from Layton, from Ithaca, N.Y., from Brigham City, Morgan, Huntsville, Roy, West Haven, Herriman, Eden, and Texas, New Mexico and San Diego. CAWS put in $400. And the money is still coming in.”
Donations will completely cover the cost of the surgery. Smith said any money beyond what was needed will stay with CAWS (www.caws.org) to help other animals in need of care.
“We work on animal rescue all the time,” Allred said. “We helped people whose house had burned, and their dog got smoke inhalation. We’ve helped people who are unemployed and cannot afford significant care. We helped a woman with cancer who couldn’t afford the care her pet needed, and a low-income family with a beagle with an open wound from a tumor on its leg.
“Usually our vets step in, but Willie needed more than we could do.”
Allred said she believes Payet’s story touched readers because of his fierce commitment to Willie, and to the pictures of Payet taking his two dogs on their long daily walk around Ogden’s 20th Street Pond, Willie in a wagon and Shorti, Payet’s rescued Westi, racing ahead.
“Pictures make it more real to you,” Allred said. “They touch you in a way a story can’t on its own. People could see this dog needed help, and that Marc was committed to getting Willie that help. And I think it touched people that Dr. Smith went ahead and did the surgery up front. That’s not general practice.”
Willie gets stronger every day, Payet said, and the dog is taking tentative steps on his repaired right front leg, the only leg on that side. Every week, Smith changes the bandage that protects the external metal assembly that helps hold Willie’s leg together.
Payet said Willie will wear the metal contraption for six to eight weeks.
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