A dog that was the beneficiary of a fundraising drive by a Waterville woman, who recently raised more than $8,000, will undergo intensive heart surgery in Massachusetts Wednesday.
Samantha Fields, 56, raised the money for her foster dog, Addie, on Facebook and gofundme pages after the 17-month-old brown and white foxhound was diagnosed with severe pulmonic stenosis, a deformity of the pulmonary valve, and tricuspid valve dysplasia, a heart valve malformation.
The surgery is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Foster Hospital for Small Animals in North Grafton, Massachusetts. The hospital is part of Tufts University.
“She’s doing really well. She’s just tired,” Fields said of Addie Monday.
Fields had fostered Addie for the Humane Society Waterville Area since May, after Fields moved to Waterville from Colorado. “It’s time for her to have this surgery. It’s been a long nine weeks now since we’ve known she’s needed the surgery.”
Fields began raising the money for the surgery with the Humane Society’s blessing and was surprised at the amount of support she got.
“People really gravitated to her story,” Smith said in July. “One lovely woman offered a match gift of up to $2,500. Someone in California stumbled onto the story and offered a $2,400 gift.”
Fields was also diagnosed with a heart problem in 2014 — she has diastolic heart failure — and said Monday that the dog provides emotional support. She doesn’t mind having to provide extra care for Addie since she understands what it’s like to live with a heart condition.
“She’s such a fighter,” Fields said. “She’s so happy-go-lucky. I really don’t think anything bad will happen (with the surgery). I’m prepared if it does, but I don’t think it will.”
After the surgery and Addie’s recovery, Fields said she hopes to find her a loving home or possibly adopt the dog herself.
“If somebody else could give her a better home, I would be willing to do that,” Fields said, though she added that after several weeks together the two are “fairly bonded” now.
Rachel Ohm — 612-2368
Twitter: @rachel_ohm
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