Plea to help pay Sidmouth dog’s vet bill
Mark Lindsey Earley and Springer spaniel Stouffie - Credit: Archant
A dog owner, left needing to find £200 a month for his chronically ill springer spaniel, has launched a fundraising bid to help pay for his vet bills.
Mark Lindsey Earley's Springer spaniel Stouffie - Credit: Archant
Stouffie is Mark Lindsey Earley’s companion and his ‘exercise coach’ – the two of them have been walking the length of Britain together – but the canine has chronic kidney disease and a prognosis of six months to two years left to live.
Psychotherapist Mark wants to make their time together as comfortable as possible, but faces losing his job and is unsure how he will make ends meet.
“He is a moment of pure joy in this crazy world and such a gift to everyone who knows him,” said Mark, 46. “Fortunately, he doesn’t realise he’s ill. His quality of life is so good now – it would be criminal not to give him the best chance we can.”
He and Stouffie hit it off immediately. The Brewery Lane resident picked up the pooch one day and the next their bond made people think they had been together for years.
You may also want to watch:
Now they have been, and the canine is ‘no longer a spring chicken’, but he is still full of life.
“He still thinks he’s a puppy,” said Mark, who also teaches stand-up comedy classes. “He’s been put on a crazy expensive renal diet. Luckily he loves it – not many dogs do. He likes people and a lot of fuss. We walk through town and people just smile at him.”
Most Read
- 1 Folk festival boosted by £97K grant from Culture Recovery Fund
- 2 We're open again! Town's traders welcome back shoppers
- 3 Archie's three marathons in three days charity challenge
- 4 Confidence grows for return of traditional high street
- 5 Sidmouth seniors back in competitive action
- 6 The boyhood of Ottery's famous poet - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- 7 Property of the Week: Priory House, Ottery St Mary
- 8 Escot springs out of lockdown and they're wild about opening again
- 9 Hayman's Butchers 'had been my life' - Stewart Hayman
- 10 Around the sitting room in 80 days with the amazing Diana, 98
Mark is registered disabled and said exercising 10-year-old Stouffie is good for his health, too, adding: “We’ve been walking from Land’s End to John O’Groats in sections every weekend. I can’t imagine doing it without him – it wouldn’t feel right.
“We are sorry to ask when we know many people are struggling in this economy with far worse problems than ours. We are so grateful that you are even considering making a donation. We do not ask lightly. We dearly wish to keep Stouffie happy for his last months or years.”
The money will help fund Stouffie’s ongoing care, which costs £200 a month.
To support the fundraiser, visit www.gofundme.com/stouffies-medical-care-fund-x.
