Three years ago, after dog lover Deandra Boyd heard a contractor working inside her house mention that he had tried to kill his cancer-stricken dog, Bandie, she sprang into action and asked to see the dog.
At the time, Bandie was suffering from transmissible venereal tumours (TVT), a type of tumour that develops in the genital area. TVTs are transmitted between dogs through physical contact and, while they can be serious, they are generally low-grade malignancies.
“They were doing some work, and I already had two dogs at my house and they were playing and I was interacting with them, and the contractor saw and said, ‘Dem people here love dog’ and the person who was working with him said, ‘Yes, dem people here love dog. Me have my dog and she sick, and mi try kill her two times.’ So I heard that, and to cut a long story short, I ended up going for her,” Boyd, 25, told GoodHeart at the recent True Pet Expo, where she was accompanied by her dogs.
“I didn’t intend to keep her. I sprung into action when he said he was trying to kill her. I wouldn’t feel good leaving her, but it wasn’t my intention leaving her [either]. The plan was to go for her and keep her for like a week, see if somebody else would like to take her on, but because she had the cancer, I kept her, and kept taking her to the vet to get her treated,” she said.
Cancer treatment cost Boyd some $60,000 with around $9,000 for dog chemotherapy weekly. Giving up the German Shepherd mix after cancer treatment, she said, was a “foster fail” as she “got really really picky” about potential foster dog parents.
Luckily, at 21 years, Boyd was working so she could pay for the treatment and care of the dog, and add her to the two she already had.
One thing Boyd pointed out was that she was really motivated to help this dog because she was grieving the loss of a previous dog named Guinness.
“Before fostering dogs, my dog actually died. She got hit by a car, so I did this out of grief, so I would say, ‘Turn your grief into something positive’.”
On the other hand, Boyd mentioned that she couldn’t have helped Bandie alone. It was her mentor, Lisa Chong, who took her to visit the dog and accompanied her to the vet for treatment and care.
“She took me to AllPets/Paws for Pets Veterinary Services where we did her chemotherapy. Her cancer is now in remission and here she is now,” Boyd said.
After spending around $60,000 on treatment, she now has no regrets.
“She is the oldest dog that I have in the house. She’s very calm. She is very laid back, however, she is the dominant one in the house. For example, if she’s at the doorway, best believe, nobody else is passing that door. We all have to wait for her to move,” Boyd explained.
“They (the other dogs) wait for her to do things. She sets the tone for the house, and she disciplines them for sure. If they get too rowdy, she will bark. She is very nurturing and at the same time, she is very protective of the house.”
If given the chance to do this again for Bandie, Boyd said she would in a heart beat.
“I cannot imagine life without Bandie. I would do this 100 per cent. I cannot imagine not having Bandie. Some times she gets on my nerve with the barking, but I would do it again, because if I didn’t save her, she would not be here right now,” the dog-lover added.
ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com
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