Carmichaels woman creates group to help save lives of furry friends
Teddy Roberts, the namesake of the Teddy Bear Care loan fund for emergency medical services for pets in Greene and Fayette counties
Teddy Roberts, a Hungarian Vizsla, made a difference in life and now in death.
Angel, a dog rescued from a puppy mill, receives physical therapy at Woodlands Animal Care Center.
CARMICHAELS – Like many pet owners, Donna Roberts of Carmichaels considers the cats and dogs that have graced her life as family. Unable to have children of her own, Roberts has been ‘mom’ to a multitude of dogs and cats through the years. Losing any of her “babies,” as she calls them, hurt, but it wasn’t until she lost her “son” Teddy, a full-blooded Vizsla, a Hungarian pointing dog, in 2013 that Roberts found a way to process her grief by helping others in Teddy’s name.
That was when Teddy Bear Cares (TBC) Corp. was born.
TBC is a nonprofit organization that provides interest-free loans to pet owners in Greene and Fayette counties who cannot afford urgent or potentially life-saving medical services for their pets. TBC offers its services through Woodlands Animal Care Center in Farmington, where Teddy received care.
TBC provides the loans through fundraising efforts of its board, composed of Teddy’s extended family.
On Nov. 22, it will hold its second annual talent show, TBC’s Got Talent, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Albert Gallatin High School in Uniontown.
The talent show is held to raise awareness of TBC and additional funding for its loan program. There are no auditions and all ages are welcome to perform. Contestants are asked to acquire $100 in sponsorships with an opportunity for the winner to receive a $1,000 grand prize.
Teddy, who lived to be 19 years old, entered Roberts’ life after her cat, Nathaniel, passed away.
“I was so depressed and just devastated to lose Nate,” Roberts said.
Living in New Jersey at the time, Roberts began to stop at the Puppy Play Ground, a friend’s store, to play with the puppies. It was there she met Teddy. Traditionally Robert’s “fur babies” were all from rescue organizations. Teddy was the exception, but in the end, Robert’s realized Teddy, too, was a rescue animal nobody wanted.
“He chose me. He would get up in the store front window and wait for me to come,” Roberts said.
Eileen, the owner of the Puppy Play Pen, got Teddy from an Iowa breeder to sell as a show dog but that proved impossible, Roberts said.
Teddy’s had some “slight imperfections” that would not do on the show circuit but his slightly bowed legs, missing tuft of fur and incorrectly cropped tail were endearing to Roberts.
With an $1,800 asking price Roberts never dreamed Teddy would be hers.
“Eileen kept saying, ‘You’ve got to take Teddy home,'” Roberts said.
Even when the price dropped to $1,600, then to $900, and even down to $800, she still couldn’t afford Teddy.
“When I arrived one afternoon Eileen said, ‘Trey and I are going to make you an offer you can’t refuse,'” Roberts said.
Six-hundred dollars later with a month’s supply of dog food, the teddy bear he slept with (hence the name) and a dog crate, Teddy Roberts had found a home.
“He was the only ‘human’ dog I ever knew. He was the most remarkable and intelligent dog, always seven steps ahead of me,” Roberts said. “As a baby he could identify his own stocking on the mantle out of a whole string of stockings and pull it down.”
When they moved from New Jersey to be near family in Greene County it was a big adjustment, she said. Teddy had always been “extremely fast and muscular and needed a lot of freedom to run,” Roberts said. Although they continued to get out and take walks, Teddy was starting to slow down.
“He was getting older and having aging issues. So, I did for Teddy what you would do for an aging parent and tried everything under the sun to keep him from falling,” she said.
Her aunt suggested padded socks for Teddy to help him walk without slipping.
Despite everything she did, Teddy started to need the help of professionals and that was when they found Woodlands Animal Care Center. Roberts couldn’t say enough about the “phenomenal care and staff there.”
“They did everything they possibly could do, day or night. The first time Teddy met Dr. (Rebecca) Wingfield she got down on the floor and talked to him before talking to me,” she said. “When I would tell Teddy, “We are going to see Dr. Wingfield,” his tail would start wagging. There was never a fear.”
Eventually, Teddy ended up on doggie hospice and Wingfield was as concerned with Roberts’ own health as she was with Teddy’s.
“She could see I was exhausted. It is rare a doctor would care as much about the family member as the patient,” she said.
Wanting to honor Teddy and do something to give back for the care he received at WACC, Roberts and her aunt, Charlotte “Char” Williams-Newton came up with Teddy Bear Cares. As Robert’s brother, sister, niece, nephew, and close friend shared in the grief of losing Teddy it was only natural each of them comprise the TBC board, Robert’s said.
Director of pet nursing at WACC, Jessica Fundis explained the loan process.
“Patients who come to our hospital fill out a form. It is good for those who have no cash or have been declined credit for their pet’s care and there is no other option,” Fundis said. “Donna asked herself, ‘What happens if people can’t afford to come here, like she did.’ So they started the fund in memory of Teddy.”
Roberts said TBC will help those with difficulty in paying back a loan.
“Call me, tell me what the problem is and we can work something out. We know people coming to us are already in a forced hardship situation,” she said. “I raced up the summit with Teddy several times thinking I would sell whatever I had to to pay for his bill.”
TBC doesn’t want to see WACC have to close its doors because people can’t pay.
“It is a business. They have to get paid for their services or they would not be able to operate. We have helped save eight animals with our assistance,” Roberts said.
Although TBC currently operates exclusively through WACC, down the road there are plans to expand its assistance through other carefully selected facilities, Roberts said. She stressed TBC is not against local veterinary care. WACC is an urgent and emergency care animal hospital and that is what TBC loans for – extraordinary medical care.
In the short term, the TBC board hopes to raise enough money to purchase a doggie wheel chair for TBC friend, Angel, who was rescued from a puppy mill. Angel was kept in a cage so long she was unable to stand. After multiple surgeries and physical therapy, there is still a long way to go before she can walk on her own. Roberts estimated the chair will cost $850.
“When we started TBC, the first call we got was from an elderly woman with no family, friends or nearby neighbors to help her take her baby to the hospital. At the time we couldn’t reach her,” Roberts said. “When I told my aunt Charlotte, it crushed her. She said, ‘This can’t happen again.’ So, at the top of our wish list is buying a pet ambulance for WACC.”
TBC can be reached from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday at 856-397-3167. Those interested in entering the talent show, volunteering with TBC or making a financial contribution can visit its website, http://teddynathaniel27.wix.com/teddybearcares.