The degree to which Jan has been utterly failed by people is more severe than anything we’ve seen in a long time. After being tormented and shot by a group of teens that thought to make his pain entertainment, Jan stumbled his bleeding, bullet-filled body to his owner’s door. And what did his owner do? Shoved him back outside and left there to be someone else’s problem.

The town where Jan (Yakhont) lived is notorious – many dogs are shot and poisoned for entertainment by local teens. It is truly a place where street dogs are tortured and killed often and innocent Jan did not escape the torment. Not on the streets and not at home, where the one person he thought he could trust threw him away in his time of need.

Still reeling from having been shot at and thrown out, Jan was left to navigate the cruel neighborhood all by himself.

It was sometime later that a local woman saw Jan wandering the streets with a bleeding wound on his head and alerted us. Jan was immediately picked up and brought to a clinic after we spoke to some locals around and learned what had happened in the days prior. We were disgusted…but kept our attention on Jan.

During the wound cleaning, doctors extracted a bullet out of a soft tissue which thankfully didn’t damage any bones of the skull. The wound was then stitched up, Jan was prescribed antibiotics and discharged for further recovery back at the sanctuary but as time went by, Jan didn’t heal. He also started making wheezing sounds when breathing.

He was rushed back to the clinic for testing where we learned that he had been shot not once, but twice! And the second bullet was still in there, lodged in his neck. A histology testing revealed that there is a tumor but local doctors have different opinions on whether it is of malignant or benign etiology. (X-rays didn’t show any metastasis in his organs).  Our consulting veterinarian suggests radiation therapy would be a the only appropriate treatment if malignant tumor is confirmed. Such treatment is not available locally and Jan needs to see a certified oncologist in Moscow ASAP. The testing, radiation therapy treatment and a hospital stay will be pricey, but this is the only chance Jan has got.  And he deserves this chance. Kindness will prevail.

Please give Jan this chance. Please consider donating to help Jan’s care and recovery. Thank you!