The Patch Foundation
The creation of the Patch Foundation set-up by Sarah Ross (Operations Director of Sounds Commercial) is a timely inspirational story. She was by coincidence, at her vets "Rowe Veterinary" in Bradley Stoke when a little stray terrier dog was bought in after being thrown out of a window of a "travellers" car in Patchway.
Patch was deemed to be homeless and therefore the vets were unable to care for her and the intensive surgery she needed to rectify the paralysis from the neck down, which would have cost thousands of pounds. She was taken to the RSPCA who seemed to have had no alternative than to administer euthanasia.
When they contacted Sarah (who had left her details at the Vets) she made the decision that she could not see this happen to such a brave little thing who had at one year old clearly had been abused her entire life. Sarah took her to the Down Veterinary Consultancy where she had a MRI scan which confirmed that the nerves in her back were trapped hence the paralysis. She was operated on at the cost of £4000, she survived against all odds and then went into after care at Rowe where she was taught to walk again and then she completed her recovery at home with Sarah, her partner and their Black Labrador Tommy!
The Bristol Evening Post also stepped in! We called her Patch as she was found in Patchway! She continued to live with Sarah for a period of time and made a full recovery. She was re-homed with a lovely family and the Patch Foundation was established as a result!!!
The foundation was set up to help animals either stray or whose owners can not afford to pay the veterinary care bills and they would not qualify for care at the RSPCA.
Since it creation in 2006, the foundation has been able to help various animals including Lucy-Lu (who turned out o be Archie!) a cat who had been mauled by the owners dog, they could not afford the treatment.
Frank the brave, brave dog who had been hit by a train and walked the mile home with just three legs after his left leg was severed on the railway track.
Muffin the cat who had a stroke but when his owners were unable to afford the ‘long medical’ assistance, the Patch Foundation heard of his plight through Miss Ross’ colleague and Friend Tim Lloyd. The Foundation was able to provide the money to give Muffin 6 extra months of life which she and her grateful Mum enjoyed to the full.
Tigger the tabby Cat was hit by a car and had multiple injuries to his pelvis for which he had to have 3 operations over 2 days. Tigger was doing fantastically well and then 5 weeks postoperatively he developed a constriction of his colon due to complication from the injury. This can be a life threatening problem at this point the owner was at her financial end. The only options were to try pioneering surgery or unfortunately put Tigger to sleep as they could not predict how he would fair.
Luckily with the help of the Patch Foundation they were able to choose the surgery which they thought was best (involving removing the bottom half of his pelvis, and reattaching the body wall muscles to the pelvic canal and cutting the stricture). It is now expected for him to have a good quality of life now hopefully for the next 18-20 years!
Another cat the Patch Foundation has been able to help was Timmy, a road accident left all of his internal organs out of place. Following emergency surgeries to put everything back in place he returned to his loving family but not before being awarded from the Veterinary the "Bravest Cat of the Year" award.
Last Christmas Sarah was contacted by the Rowe Veterinary Group in Stoke Bishop about a 9 month old Border Collie called Ben. Ben had been purchased from the Trade It. The day after his new owners bought him home he was run over. Unable to care for the sick puppy or afford the medical bills, they took him to the Vets and handed him over. With the help of the Patch Foundation the Vets are helping Ben to recover.
More recently the Patch Foundation was able to help Troy who was an adorable, loving 7 month old long haired Jack Russell puppy. He was found under a car in Kingswood with a badly damaged leg, it looks as though he was abandoned by his owners and then run over by a car. Sarah was able to offer Troy a temporary place to stay after his surgeries to fix his leg (which the Foundation was able to pay for) she was also able to find him a more permanent home with a family in Dorset. His new owners are regularly in touch and they tell us that he is now their "everything" and rules the roost!
Sarah refuses to turn away any needed animals and has offered to fund the help personally. Any support would allow her to extend this opportunity to more veterinary practices to help make a difference for many more animals.
When Patch’s plight was reported in the Bristol Evening Post, the Patch Foundation was able to raise over £4,000 through the kind donations of its readers, and they have continually receive donations from various organisation’s and individuals over the years, including from donation boxes situated within the Rowe Veterinary Clinic in Stoke Bishop, Bristol and various other locations. Without the kind donation the Patch Foundation would not be able to help these animals, should you wish to donate please send a cheque payable to the Patch Foundation to "The Patch Foundation", c/o Sounds Commercial, Dragon Court,, Crofts End Road. St. George Bristol BS5 7XX, or contact them on email address PatchFoundation@soundscommercial.co.uk for further details.
