Many generous GoFundMe donations are helping an injured, once-abandoned dog make a full recovery while also making it possible for other pets in similar situations to receive the care they desperately need.
The GoFundMe was originally created to help raise funds for Midnight the dog’s care. On a chilly February day, Midnight was seen in an unstrapped crate on an open trailer traveling down Interstate 80/94 and was then discovered that same day abandoned in Gary. Midnight went into care at the Gary Animal Shelter and later found a loving foster home. At the time, he was still suffering from major health issues as a result of his previous poor treatment. Midnight’s story even went viral following a video of him in the trailer being posted online, tugging at the heartstrings of many in the area. This included Rebecca ‘Becky’ Hogan, a client at Vale Park Animal Hospital who created the GoFundMe to help raise the funds for Midnight’s recovery.
“She heard about the situation, knew us as a client and said, ‘Hey, let me put together a GoFundMe to help this foster out, to help this dog get better,’” said Dr. Brent Lakia, Vale Park partner and Midnight’s veterinarian. “It blew up, and it’s been really great to see the community come together to be able to take care of this dog. We're able to use the funds from the GoFundMe to take care of the dog and get him back on track.”
The GoFundMe took off, turning what everyone thought would be just a way to lessen the hefty vet bill into something that changed the game not only for Midnight, but for many other pets in the area who may share a similar story.
“After we took care of the costs for Midnight, the remainder was $11,730.39,” Dr. Lakia said.
With so much money left over from the donations of many good samaritans, Dr. Lakia knew he wanted it to go towards helping other abandoned and mistreated animals find the care they need to hopefully prevent a situation like Midnight’s to happen again. For that reason, he is donating the remaining funds to the Indiana State Police Alliance, a non-profit with the Indiana State Police.
“Midnight may or may not continue to be a client or patient at Vale Park, so I wanted the extra money to help folks and pets out who might be in those situations,” Dr. Lakia said. “The Indiana State Police has a not for profit where these donations can go to police officers who may come into a situation like Midnight’s. They are going to try to foster out of the goodness of their heart, and they'd be able to have some help for vet care and things like that to still take care of pets when they run into a situation like this.”
Dr. Lakia and the Vale Park team have also seen just how much police officers do for their communities, and wanted this gift to reflect the animal hospital and the community’s support for all they do.
“We know these officers really care. They're trying to take care of the community and they also are animal lovers, too,” Dr. Lakia said. “For us to be able to acknowledge that, understand it, and help them while also helping these pets out is a crazy great thing we're able to do. We're taking the excess money that was raised to help these officers and help them take care of dogs, and if they so choose, any municipality can access those funds through the Alliance.”
All of this has been made possible through the actions of many heartfelt donations. Dr. Lakia couldn’t be more thankful for their contributions to find some good in a tough situation. These selfless acts are now creating even more positive change within communities, perfectly embodying the mission and spirit of the cause behind the GoFundMe from the very beginning.
“The thing that really jumps out to me is what kind of community we live in and the generosity of all the animal lovers in the greater Valpo area,” Dr. Lakia said. “We have so many people here who are just really compassionate and want to take care of pets. When I heard about this really sad situation, I just wanted to try to make it right and help this dog out, and this was exactly the kind of spirit I hoped this situation would embody. We're trying to take that spirit to these really hard situations that officers find themselves in, and with that, they can be able to offer more care and help for these pets in these really tough situations. I'm just thankful to be able to do that with these folks and really give them the opportunity to do all the things that they do that's so good for our community.”
To learn more about the Indiana State Police Alliance, please visit indianasfinest.com, and for more information on Vale Park Animal Hospital, please visit valeparkah.com.
