Death-defying dog racks up vet bills

Some good Samaritans have come to the aid of an injured dog in Thunder Bay.

Kross is a 10 month-old Husky Malamute who reportedly fell from a third-storey window in a May Street apartment building.

The dog was left injured and unclaimed, until Melissa Waugh and her business partner came to his rescue.

They've adopted Kross, and are raising money to pay his $5,000 vet bill.

Waugh said, so far, they've raised about half that amount.

"I think we have a really great community and everybody's come together really well to help support this dog," Waugh said. "I still can't believe how great Thunder Bay has come together to do this for us."

Waugh and her business partner are collecting donations at several retail locations, as well as online, where they've set up a Facebook page called "Help Kross."

Waugh and Rejeanne Runciman own a store in Thunder Bay's South Core, near the apartment building from which the dog apparently fell. They were told by neighbours that Kross had fallen from a third-storey window.

"Unfortunately, we don't know exactly what happened," Runciman said. "But he either fell or could have possibly been pushed out of a window and it was over 25 feet up in the air and landed on the sidewalk."

After seeing Kross on a website for lost dogs, Waugh recognized him as a dog they'd seen in their neighbourhood before. They started trying to track him down. That’s when they found out Kross was at an animal hospital, but couldn't have surgery until someone paid for it.

"I talked to somebody at the humane society and they said that … the vet was going to put the dog down because he was in pain [and] he was suffering," Runciman said. "We were really lucky that we got there just in time."

The pair paid a $1,000 down payment for him to have the surgery, which involved repairing two breaks in his leg. The vet bill ended up being close to $5,000.

Kross will stay at the animal hospital until the bill is paid, after which Runciman will take him home.