(WSVN) - A man who surrendered his dog at an animal shelter because he had no money to pay for its medical care now wants his pet back after the shelter raised thousands for surgery.
Jeffrey Ferrie gave up his 10-year-old Chihuahua named Boris to the Cedar Bend Humane Society, after he said the dog broke his jaw during a fight with a neighbor’s dog.
He had no money to pay for X-rays and surgery, so Ferrie surrendered Boris to the shelter.
The shelter shared Boris’ story on social media, and was quickly able to raise $5,000 to pay for the dog’s surgery and save his jaw.
“We were just completely blown away with the generosity of our community,” said co-director Kristy Gardner. “We definitely have a lot of animal lovers out there.”
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Now that Boris has received treatment, Ferrie says he wants the dog back.
“I would love to get my dog back. I didn’t want to give him up, but that was the only option that I had,” Ferrie said. “And they made it seem as though they were just going to put him down anyway. I didn’t think there was any option that he would survive this ordeal to begin with.”
Ferrie argues that, since the money for the dog’s medical care was raised through donations, he should be allowed to take his pet back home.
“They’re not out anything if they were to either give me back my dog or allow me to re-adopt him,” he said. “There’s nothing coming out of their pockets if they decide to do that.”
Shelter administrators say they are not putting Boris up for adoption at this point, since they just want to focus on his recovery.
“Our main concern is the animal. Right now we’re just moving forward with the care of the dog,” Gardner said. “We’re not concentrating on getting him adopted or where he needs to go from here. Right now, our focus is the dog.”
The shelter says Boris has a long recovery ahead of him and will have to be fed with a syringe for several months.
Once Boris is put up for adoption, Gardner says everyone who applies to take him home will be evaluated for consideration, including Ferrie.
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