The owner of a dog attacked by a pack of lurchers has said an emotional thankyou for every penny donated towards the huge vet bill generated by Bullet's life saving treatment.
Laura Meehan says she has been astounded by the generosity of friends and strangers as donations started building in fund set up by a dog lover she has never met.
The bill is already over £7,500 and is likely to rise to about £10,000 but already donations and pledges have amounted so far to an incredible £5,970.
Read more: Bramble attacked by same lurchers 10 weeks earlier has recovered and been adopted
Laura said: "I can't really explain the relief and gratitude we're feeling thanks to the donations that have come in, the support we have been given and the people we have met as a result of Bullet's attack.
"I want to let everyone know that despite the awful injuries, Bullet is doing really well this week. His mood is good, his bandages are being left off for periods of time to allow the wounds to dry and heal and there's not a complaint out of him. He is really incredible in how he has dealt with everything.
"Saving Bullet has always been the thing that kept us going but at the back of our minds was the vet bill and we'd no idea how high it would go. He needed so much emergency care, and then more surgeries and more aftercare that the total just kept increasing.
"The vets and nurses worked with Bullet and with us and tried to keep all the costs down as much as possible, but it was terrifying to see the bill hit £1,000 and keep rising, and the last print out was almost £8,000 and we know it will go higher.
"So to see donations coming in to help us is fantastic - to be honest we have been really shocked by how kind everyone has been.
"Now the panic subsiding and we're looking at everything more calmly, we feel that with this help that we will be able to pay this bill. We are just so grateful for every penny, every single penny."
Bullet the 12-year-old Collie cross was almost killed in Derry last month when five sight hounds mauled him near his home, leaving him with horrendous injuries.
Vets raced to save his life but the cost of the care is currently sitting at almost £8,000 and is expected to rise as Bullet continues to heal and head into rehabilitation.
But hundreds of people and the North West Animal Welfare Group have donated to a fund set up to help pay the bill and together with donations made directly to the vet, the fund total so far has reached an incredible £5,655.
Mel McKee from NorthWestAWG said: "Our charity is aimed at helping those who need it most and our charity shop profits are used for that purpose. We wanted to help beautiful Bullet as he battles back to health."
Bullet was attacked on May 3 by a pack of five lurchers in Galliagh, which had mauled a stray Labrador 10 weeks earlier, leaving him with similar injuries.
Bullet’s owner, Laura, said the kindness of strangers has been overwhelming at times. She told DogsLive : “When Bullet was attacked the last thing on our mind was a vet’s bill. We just reacted to what had happened and asked the vets to try to save him.
“We had never met the vets or the nurses at All Creatures in Limavady before this, but that’s where Bullet was taken because the police officer who attended the scene found them to be open and got him booked in as an emergency.
“But in the last four weeks we've got to know the team there so well and we couldn’t be more grateful. They have been amazing.
"They promised us that if we stood by Bullet, if we fought for him and did all we could for him, so would they and we have been in excellent hands.
“We travelled from our home every day to spend some time with Bullet while he was in intensive care. And when he started to feel a bit better, the vets thought it would be best for us to take him home because he was lonely without us and they were afraid he would be slower to heal if his mood was low.
"So we took him home and then had to take him back to Limavady every other day to get his wounds flushed and redressed. And now he is healing so well that we are going every third day and he is doing great.
“Thinking back to when the vets offered for us to put Bullet to sleep, I can see why when I look at the photos of his injuries. They are horrendous and it’s a miracle he has recovered in any way. But our instincts were right, Bullet was not ready to say goodbye to us.”
But while Bullet started to heal, the family was left with a massive vet bill is likely to hit £10,000 or more.
Laura said: “In the past our vet bills have been very low because Bullet was never sick and only ever got his annual jabs and tick and flea treatment. So for us to see a bill in the thousands was terrifying.
"We are a quiet family and really not one to ask for help but these were desperate times. If I had the money, the bill would be paid right now. But we as a family just don’t have that type of money.
“A Paypal account was set up initially because we didn’t really know what else to do and we hoped we might get some small donations because we know how tight money is for everyone, but we were amazed to see that £1,008 was donated and that has been paid to the vet to start to get the bill down a bit. It was such a relief.
“Then, after DogsLive, Belfast Live and the Mirror carried Bullet’s story, a GoFundMe page was set up by a complete stranger in Co Down explaining what had happened to Bullet, and so far it has had donations of £3,662 which is just incredible.
“In addition to that, a lady from a charity walked into the vet and handed them a cheque for £500 for Bullet’s account which was so generous and now we understand this charity that's devoted to animals plans to donate another £300 which is just fantastic.
“So in the space of a month we are currently have £5,655 in donations all of which will go right to the vet’s bill. It means we have to try to find about £2,000 to get us this part of the bill paid and hopefully the costs have slowed down a great deal now that Bullet is healing better.
“I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Every single person who has donated a penny or a pound has thrown us a lifeline.
" I will never be able to explain how it feels to have been able to get this help for Bullet. It was the biggest bill we have ever seen and I think there were charges that should have been on there that were not. The vets and nurses worked on Bullet in their own time too, so they made sacrifices and donations of their time and expertise.
"We just want to say thankyou to everyone who has sent Bullet support and well wishes, to everyone who has commented on social media and sent us their love, to everyone who has supported us as a family, to every single person who has donated money or time. We are just so grateful and we don't feel so scared any more."
If you would like to donate to Bullet's fund for vet care you can click here and follow the link or contact the vet directly by clicking here.
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