BRAZOS VALLEY, Texas — Stepping up to help is the Brazos valley way, no matter how big, or small the cause someone's there in times of need.
One stray kitty is experiencing what this means, now in the care of the Aggieland Humane Society is receiving a second chance at life.
It’s a love for animals that grew as Dr. Jack McKemie was growing up on the farm.
”I have a soft spot for kitties," shared Dr. McKemie, owner of Brazos Valley Mobile Vet Services. "I always have, and I have ten of them already, so it made me very happy to help her,”
Honey was found near Tabor Road on Christmas eve suffering from a gunshot wound. The family who found her brought her into the Texas A&M Small Animal Hospital. They were able to stabilize her as best as possible before bringing her into the Aggieland Humane Society.
Kaitlin Raley an employee of the nonprofit has fostered nearly 200 pets and taking Honey in for the holidays was important to her.
”I actually took her home for the new year's holidays because the shelter was going to be closed and I wanted to make sure that she would have care," said Kaitlin Raley, Aggieland Humane Society administrative coordinator. "While we weren’t here to care for her continuously, she got around okay but you could definitely tell there were mobility issues,”
With a broken femur, the road to recovery was costly, so the nonprofit reached out for the community's help to cover her medical expenses.
“We posted her story on our social media letting people know she needed surgery and we could really use their support and we were just overwhelmed by the outpouring of kind words, donations, and support coming for honey’s care,” added Raley.
A local veterinarian came across Honey’s story and provided her with the needed leg amputation free of charge.
"She will do very well in the rest of her life and she’s a young cat too and that’s another obviously important reason to go ahead and do what’s right for her,” said McKemie.
Dr. McKemie says losing a leg hasn't slowed her down.
"It’s really nice to see now that she doesn’t have mobility issues," shared Raley. "She gets around just fine with the three legs even though it’s still healing, so it’s definitely improved her quality of life,”
Dr. McKemie also encourages others in the community to step up when they see an animal in distress.
“In the end, that’s what it will take," said McKemie. "Not only just me all the other veterinarians that they have relationships with to step up and help take care of the pet population as best we can,”
Honey will remain in the care of Aggieland humane society as she recovers from her surgery before she is up for adoption in search of her forever home.
The donations received for Honey's care were nearly $500 dollars before receiving her surgery from Dr. McKemie. The nonprofit will now use the funds to support Honey's medical needs moving forward.