At Heartland, every day brings animals in crisis through our doors—sick, scared, and in desperate need of medical care. We never know who will arrive next, but we do know one thing: their survival depends on us being ready to act, no matter the cost.

You Make Healing Possible

It’s been a season of sickness, survival, and second chances.

Many dogs arrive at Heartland with no vaccines, no medical history, and weakened immunity from the stress of overcrowded shelters. Over the summer, we also faced a new strain of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia. At the same time, a number of our shelter kittens and cats were panleukopenia—a ruthless virus that attacks their immune systems and too often proves fatal. 

We can often provide treatment for ill dogs and cats at Heartland—thanks to our isolation space, the tireless work of our medical staff, and the dedication of our foster care team.  While we do our best on-site, we are not a 24-hour hospital. When animals need oxygen, IV antibiotics, nutritional support, or even blood transfusions, the only option is costly emergency hospitalization. Over the summer, seven dogs and four cats required hospital care. The cost: $3,000–$4,000 per animal.

Expensive medical bills have stretched our resources thin, but we refuse to let money decide who gets to live. That’s why we created the Dr. Do More Medical Fund—so we can always say yes when a sick or injured animal needs us.

Your donation to Dr. Do More is more than a gift—it’s oxygen for a struggling dog, medicine for a kitten with panleuk, and hope for the next life hanging in the balance.

Please, help us keep saying yes.

With gratitude,
The Heartland Team

Stories of Survival

Yam
Four-week-old Yam, his six siblings, and his mama made their way to us from rural Arkansas in October. We noticed that Yam wasn’t as active as his littermates and wasn’t eating or nursing as much as he should. We kept a close eye on him over the next couple of days. His bloodwork revealed he was severely anemic. Yam required an immediate blood transfusion, so we rushed him to Veterinary Specialty Center. They have been taking great care of little Yam, and he’s getting stronger and is clearly feeling better already!

Like most of our costliest medical cases, we weren’t expecting this. Yam’s life was in the balance, and we will always do what we need to do for our dogs and cats. Yam is still hospitalized, though we hope he is discharged soon. So far the total for his care is over $4,000. If you can, please donate any amount to our Dr. Do More Medical Fund . Your donation goes directly to covering medical expenses for dogs and cats like Yam.

Tenny Jr.
Tenny Jr. is an 8-year-old beagle who was surrendered to Chicago Animal Care and Control in August. He arrived at Heartland like so many other poor pups in his situation: In a state of shock and too depressed to move or eat. In addition, despite spending only two days at CACC, Tenny caught a viral upper respiratory infection. Whereas an owned pet can fight off a cold pretty easily, shelter dogs like Tenny often struggle to get healthy again. The stress of having their lives turned upside down compromises their immune systems, and the dogs we take from partner shelters like CACC are often lacking a vaccine history that would help protect them from infectious diseases. Over the following few days, Tenny Jr.’s slight cough erupted into full-blown pneumonia. We decided to hospitalize Tenny at VEG – Buffalo Grove for IV antibiotics and 24-hour monitoring.

Around this same time, we met a prospective adopter named Mitch. Mitch is 95 years young and has had dogs all of his life. And what a life he’s had! Mitch would regularly visit us at the shelter. He always brought us fantastic cheesecakes and asked when we might have a senior dog that would be a good fit for him. When Tenny was discharged from VEG and met Mitch,  it was love at first sight! Mitch took Tenny home as a foster to adopt while we continued to monitor his health. Tenny also had chronic ear infections, and one of his ears had a painful mass. Once Tenny was healthy enough, we performed a surgery to remove and biopsy the mass in his ear and apply ear medication deeper into his ear canal.

Mitch was by Tenny’s side through it all. When our vet cleared Tenny for adoption, Mitch was eager to make it official. Thanks to your donations, Tenny Jr. received the quality medical care he so desperately needed, and Mitch now has a happy, healthy pup to dote on. The best is yet to come for these two!

Queen Clementine

Audrey

Two weeks ago, Audrey was bouncing around playgroup, her goofy self. Hours later, she could barely lift her head, trembling and vomiting bile. Pneumonia had struck. Our team tried everything—IV fluids, antibiotics, even rotisserie chicken from Jewel—but Audrey continued to decline, losing 4 pounds and dropping to 88% blood oxygen. We rushed her to VEG Buffalo Grove, where she spent two days on oxygen with a nasogastric tube. Audrey came back to us a brand-new dog, full of spunk again. Her recovery was a miracle—but one with a steep price tag.

Earl

Earl is a sweet southern gentleman who’s been through a lot. and is now thriving. He came to us from Kentucky in July, arriving underweight and without any vaccine history. After a tough battle with pneumonia that landed him in the ICU twice, Earl bounced back stronger than ever and hasn’t stopped spreading joy. 

Jimmy