QUINCY, MA – When All Dogs’ Lives Matter founder Edward Scott Gilhouse witnessed a young boy crying in an animal hospital after his dog suffered a broken leg, he had no idea he was about to become a lifeline for dog owners across the state experiencing financial hardships. “Everything I do, and we raise, and is donated it’s 100% for the dogs.”
“Family came in, father holding a dog in its arms, leg was sticking straight out and had 2 boys with him 2 sons and you can tell they had been crying,” “I said, ‘What’s the matter, buddy?’ and he said ‘Wolfie broke his leg’ and I said ‘Yeah they’re gonna fix Wolfie, he can’t be in a better place than here. He’ll be up and running in no time,’ and he said ‘no, no, papa can’t afford.’ So I got up I went in the room and had a conversation with dad and the vet. I had dad give me $400 the percentage of it and I paid the rest of the bill.”
This wasn’t the first time Eddie had the unexpected need to cough up cash for an animals’ major surgery. His own rescue dog, Sydney, was 4 years old when she became diabetic. 6 months later she was blind in both eyes and required major surgery to regain her sight. “It’s an amazing thing to see the dog see again, but I started thinking about other peoples dogs,” explains Gilhouse. “People don’t have the money or the resources to get the surgeries. So does that mean your dog should go blind the rest of its life?”
Even for those that have the funds upfront, the trickle-down recovery impact of such unexpected costs can be crippling even once their beloved pet has recovered. “There’s other people out here now that have already paid for their surgeries, but their credit cards are maxed out and that’s why they’re arguing is because they’re paying at 29% because that minimum payment is out there, so other things aren’t getting paid or getting done. It’s a whole stress situation that goes on there so if we can alleviate that stress by doing a meat raffle or a comedy night like we’re gonna be doing here to help offset that cost for you to make your life-your family’s life better-well that’s rewarding in itself I think.”
How does Eddie plan to keep the funds flowing? Their first major fundraiser coming up on December 8th at the Adam Heights Men’s Club in Quincy partners with comedians Mark Riley, Will Noonan and Jimmy Cash to feature Raffle, 50/50 raffle, merchandise, and lots of laughs. “Buckle up, it’s gonna be a ride.”
To learn more about the All Dogs Lives’ Matter Foundation or purchase tickets, visit their websites.
To see more stories like this or if you have an event you’d like to pitch to Emmalyn to cover, email emmalyn@emmalynreid.com.
Emmalyn Reid 