906 to be exact.
Our last dog of 2021 arrived early this morning at O'Hare airport in Chicago. Jasmine's journey to SHUG was not easy. This sweet saluki girl was rescued by one of our partners overseas, Team Inch based in South Korea. Like many dogs rescued by Team Inch, Jasmine was suffering from Heartworm and required months of treatment and recovery. While the volunteers in Korea worked to get Jasmine healthy, the team in the US worked to find her a foster home to come to when she was ready.
These days, flights are harder than ever to find. Just this week we've had three dogs miss their flights because of weather and airline changes and cancellations. While no one wanted to be at the airport on New Year's Eve, Jasmine had been waiting since August and this was the only flight available. It was only after her flight was booked that we found out that her customs clearance fees would be doubled because of the holiday.
Jasmine's expenses so far have totaled $3137. Those break down to $2007 in vet bills and $1130 in transport fees and kenneling costs in Korea before her flight. (SHUG reimburses Team Inch for all of Jasmine's expenses so that they can continue to help dogs in South Korea.)
Our original estimate for Jasmine's costs was just under $1500. When we realized we were going to go over that number (by a lot) we posted about Jasmine on facebook.
Sometimes people are the worst part of dog rescue. And sometimes they are the best.
You guys came through.
The post about Jasmine's flight raised $1407 and another $675 was donated directly through paypal.
When Jasmine is adopted, her adoption fee of $650 will mean that it only cost SHUG $405 to help this sweet girl find her forever home and get the life she deserves. We'll cover that amount through application fees and the money we make from the SHUG shop.
This is how rescue works. Volunteers with SHUG and our awesome partner organizations around the world do the hard work of nursing dogs back to health and getting them ready for their forever homes. Your donations and support provide the funds to pay for their expenses (mostly transport costs and vet bills). And together we provide better lives for these wonderful dogs.
And next year we'll do it all again.
Thank you for supporting SHUG's mission. Have a wonderful New Year and we'll see you back here in 2022.