Does FBRN Help Owners with Their Vet Bills?

This post is an update and revision from a previous post.
 

Buckley takes his cart for a spin!

Ask Frog Princess: Does FBRN Pay for Pet Owners' ER Care?

Helene asks, "Does the French Bulldog Rescue Network ever help French bulldog owners who can't pay for medical emergency care for their pet Frenchie?"

Hello, Helene!

The short answer to your question is "No."  From time to time someone writes the website and asks for information on organizations that offer help to families in need.  Given the current economy, we hope that there are additional, possibly local, venues for assistance.

Care Credit http://www.carecredit.com/vetmed/
A credit card company for health care, including veterinary care. "As anyone with pets knows, veterinary care can be necessary, unexpected, and costly....

Riona waiting for her vet appointment

 CareCredit is a healthcare credit card that makes it simple to manage out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, because it can be used as often as you want for yourself, your family and even those other very special family members - your pets. You can use CareCredit over and over either for follow-up visits with your veterinarian or to pursue the pet dentistry you've wanted. Whether it's an everyday checkup or an emergency surgery, we offer you special financing options, so you can worry about the important stuff. You know, like playing fetch and learning new tricks."


 FACE http://www.face4pets.org/Default.aspx "The FACE Foundation provides financial assistance to animal owners who are unable to cover the full cost of their pets’ critical or emergency veterinary care." 

Allergy boy Pascal wearing his anti-itchyscratchy shirt

 

IMOM http://www.imom.org
 

"Mission Statement: Helping people help pets. To better the lives of sick, injured and abused companion animals. We are dedicated to insure that no companion animal has to be euthanized simply because their caretaker is financially challenged."  This organization can help only with dogs in emergency situations, but they have a helpful link to many local organizations that might help. http://www.imom.org/fa/pdf/fasources.pdf  

Red Rover http://www.redrover.org
"The RedRover Relief program provides funding to Good Samaritans, animal rescuers and pet owners to help them care for animals in life-threatening situations. Learn more about our RedRover Relief grants and find out the eligibility requirements at http://www.redrover.org/node/1491."

Handicapped Pets Foundation http://hpets.org
"The Handicapped Pets foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation dedicated to the health and well-being of elderly, disabled, and injured pets. We donate mobility equipment to pets in need."





Since this post was first put up, Facebook and Twitter have become part of our daily lives, and so have money-raising sites like  Crowdrise.com, Gofundme.com, and YouCaring.com.  You may be able to raise funds by posting your plea on one of these sites, then spreading the word through Facebook and Twitter.

Adorable Spina Bifida girl, Minkie

That is the list we found a while ago on the Internet. Of course, there may be local support organizations for people who are in economic straits, and the more determined to find them you are, the more likely it is that you'll find them.  Here are links to regional funding groups: http://thepetfund.com/links.htm; http://www.imom.org/fa/pdf/fasources.pdf  

One option mentioned above for emergency care is the CareCredit card. Some of our volunteers have used this credit card--which is very handy, because if you pay on time, the first year may be interest-free--but they warn that a late payment can result in a high interest rate being applied to the remainder of the loan's payoff period. It may make as much sense to use a standard credit card depending on your situation and ability to pay, but of course you should weigh the risks and benefits.

The Frog Princess