An animal sanctuary in Oregon thanked TikTok users for help in paying off vet bills for its dogs that contracted pneumonia.
The owner of The Asher House in Estacada, Lee Asher, gained attention online after posting a video on TikTok and Instagram regarding the news that the sanctuary was devastated by a “rare type of pneumonia” which was “unpredictable, fast-acting, and quickly leads to an infection in the lungs.”
@theasherhouse This is my only account. Our community and sanctuary has been hit with a rare type of pneumonia, its unpredictable, fast acting and quickly leads to an infection in the lungs. Unfortunately, it has reached the sanctuary and we have some bad news to share. The vets are unfamiliar with it and all of the ERs have been completely full in our area. At this time we need your help more than ever. I rarely ask for help but we are dealing with a bad situation right now. The ONLY place to donate is on our website. TheAsherHouse.com Thank you ❤️
Asher shared that Roo, one of the sanctuary’s dogs, died from the illness, while four other puppies were going in and out of the emergency room over the weekend.
With an established quarantine system for safety, it seemed unclear how the infection surged. Other dogs in the area were also affected. He said that it was unfortunate that nearby emergency clinics were going low on admission rooms and oxygen chambers were full. “So this is something that is new not only to the Asher House, this is new to the community. The doctors aren’t really sure where this is stemming from or how this is happening,” he said.
He claimed that a “large handful” of his 42 dogs fell ill, but only five of them “got it worse.”
Asher posted a video update following the news, sharing that the dogs had been brought home and in the process of recovery. Through donations from his 1.2 million TikTok followers, he garnered over $50,000 to cover vet bills and oxygen chambers for the animals.
“I want to let you guys know we don’t want to take more than what we need,” he said. Because of your support already, we do not need any more donations.”
@theasherhouse Some positive updates: Because of the amount of outpouring love and support, all of our vet expenses have been covered, we purchased 4 at home oxygen chambers plus a new quarantine facility to put on the sanctuary. We do not need anymore donations at this time and I sincerely cannot thank you all enough. On an even better note, Lillie is home! All of our dogs are home and on the road to recovery ❤️ I will give you a more in depth update on Monday once things settle down a bit more. Please note that if your dogs are not showing any signs of illness then there is no reason to stress or especially panic. We were hit hard by this and I promise to give you every piece of Information I get along the way. Thank you all so much for everything. This has been very difficult experience for us but having this amazing community come together has certainly helped in more ways then I could ever explain. Thank you deeply everyone, you are appreciated.
Coughing and a lack of appetite were the symptoms Asher had noticed from the animals before he had to rush them to clinics. He revealed that one of the hospitalized dogs, Lily, had 20% of her lung removed due to the severity. To examine the disease more, veterinarians were going to conduct a biopsy on her lung tissue while Lily recovered.
Andrea Cantu-Schomus, director of communications at the Oregon Department of Agriculture, reported that “the state veterinarian has received secondhand information about possible animal influenza cases at the animal sanctuary and is investigating. There is no evidence of any human connection currently.”
For now, Asher is focused on the dogs’ recovery and mourning Roo’s loss.
TikTok also poured support for Asher, his sanctuary, and the animals. One commenter wrote, “Appreciate your vulnerability, honesty and updates. You and your staff are amazing. Thank you all.”
The Asher House is an initiative that rescues and rehabilitates abused, abandoned, or discarded animals and seeks to provide them with safe shelter.
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