Magic Bullet Fund Helps Long Beach Dog with Cancer Treatment

Dogs and cats are diagnosed with cancer daily and without having expensive pet insurance, there are pet owners who feel helpless due to the high costs of veterinary services. Thankfully there are organizations like the Magic Bullet Fund which are there to help pet owners that have a canine or feline who provide financial resources for those in need. 

Sergeant, a six year-old german shepherd from Long Beach was diagnosed with gastrointestinal lymphoma and needed treatment as soon as possible. His owner, Erwin Dardon had to gather $5,000 in order to get Sergeant an emergency surgery on Thanksgiving of last year. Dardon gathered whatever was in his savings account as well as a sizable donation from another foundation which gave him a couple thousand dollars to help out.

The chemotherapy that is required for Sergeant is called CHOP protocol which is a total of 16 weeks of treatment. Dardon said each treatment can be between $600 to $1,000 which is a large amount especially if the pet is being treated weekly. 

“The Magic Bullet Fund is an amazing foundation because what they do is when you apply, if you are eligible, they help you with a certain amount to start with…You have to agree to volunteer to help and bring in donations that way you will be able to utilize the donations that they are giving you,” said Dardon. “It’s a good way to get people involved and not just give the donations because you’re actually helping your pet out.”

https://fundraise.givesmart.com/vf/SARGE

He said the MBF started him off with $3,200 which he had to match with donations on his own. Veterinary costs in the United States are very high and Dardon said that having organizations like this are a blessing to pet owners who need the help.

“They’re [MBF] providing an element of hope that there’s going to be help. They’re a nonprofit organization so people that donate are donating to a 501C3 that’s actually helping out society,” said Dardon. “It brings awareness to people that there’s actual organizations out there that can help out. There’s a lot of lack of knowledge of resources, so people sometimes just let their pets go because they didn’t have that information.”

Although Dardon had to do some research on his own and hunt down some of the organizations which are helping with Sergeant’s medical expenses, he feels it is all worth it in the end. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, almost half of the dogs over the age of 10 will develop cancer.

The MBF was founded by Laurie Kaplan, who originally started the organization because her dog named Bullet was diagnosed with lymphoma and survived over four years past his diagnosis. After a long remission from the cancer and surviving for such a long time, Bullet’s veterinarians called him “the magic Bullet,” which is where the name comes from.

There are situations like this which impact the lives of pets and their owners daily, organizations like the MBF give an opportunity at an extended life. The website is https://themagicbulletfund.org/ and people can visit to either apply, donate or gather more information on the services and mission that the organization has.

By Andrew Ayala