Good Samaritan Fund is new leash on life for animals

Phat Phat is not new to survival. The 3-year-old English bulldog started life abandoned at a veterinary clinic. She soon was adopted by Ruby Faught and her husband, James, and joined other rescue dogs in their Columbus home. Phat Phat struggled with health problems. Then, in April 2024, she was rescued from a fire that destroyed the Faughts’ West Side home and killed their four other dogs.

“Phat just broke my heart,” Faught says. “I didn’t know if she was going to make it. She had a hard life to begin with.”

Phat Phat and the Faughts were at the beginning of a terrible journey. But the Ohio State Veterinary Medical Center and the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Good Samaritan Fund have been beacons during months of struggle, providing human and financial support.

The night of the fire, Phat Phat was taken to the VMC for emergency treatment. “You would have thought we were bringing in a kid; these doctors were really amazing with Phat,” Faught says.

Phat Phat’s lungs had been damaged by smoke inhalation, and she suffered burns, forcing the dog to spend many nights in an oxygen tank. After a long initial stay, she went home but returned for flare-ups and surgeries. Through the course of Phat Phat’s stay, the severity of injuries made it clear that the cost of care would be significant. “I really didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to put her to sleep because I didn’t have the money to save her. We’d just lost everything,” Faught says.

The vet team consulted, returned and told the Faughts about the Good Samaritan Fund, supported entirely by donors and designed to fill the gap between what pet owners can pay and what pet care costs in qualifying cases. Phat Phat’s case qualified. “We just started crying like big ol’ babies. Everyone in the room,” Faught says.

In the absence of the Good Samaritan Fund, the alternative can be euthanasia, even on an animal that would likely recover well with treatment. These types of decisions can be devastating to veterinary professionals and pet owners alike. “We’re fortunate in having alumni and gracious donors who contribute to this program. It has benefits on many levels,” says Dr. Edward Cooper ’07 MS, head of the Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care Section in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Veterinarians must constantly weigh pet owners’ financial resources against the tools and techniques available to treat animal conditions. These factors don’t always align, so veterinarians are trained to create treatment options that meet owners’ financial abilities. This can be hard for everyone involved.

“In human medicine, there is much more ability to just do what needs to be done,” Cooper says. “When a human goes into an emergency department, care is provided and then finances mostly gets sorted through insurance. In veterinary medicine, money comes into it from the start and pervades how we need to manage (the case). That’s probably the most challenging aspect of what we do in veterinary medicine.”

To optimize this precious resource, the College of Veterinary Medicine has developed a protocol for using money in the Good Samaritan Fund. It’s a gift that must be treated with care. Owners are asked to contribute whatever they can, including a requirement to apply for and use a third-party line of credit specifically for medical expenses (if approved). Then the Good Samaritan Fund can help fill the gap.

There are extraordinary circumstances of “global devastation to a family,” Cooper says, such as a house fire, in which an animal will be treated urgently and costs will be sorted out when owners can be contacted. Every year, nearly 425 animals are treated through expenses of about $157,000 from the Good Samaritan Fund.

Veterinarians saw Phat Phat had a fighting chance, and she’s proven them correct.

“She’s tough! Looking at her, you wouldn’t think anything of it. Her breathing is great. She’s eating fine. She’s healthy,” Faught says. “To us, that’s our child. What you would do for a child, we do for our animals. It’s amazing to us, all the support, the phone calls from the veterinary center. They’ve been supportive, and we really appreciate them.”

Why we give: Christy Stegemiller & Sherri Macik

Linda Macik, the link that binds College of Veterinary Medicine donors Sherri Macik and Christy Stegemiller, is no longer alive, but her legacy is thriving. Linda worked in a clerical position in the Wexner Medical Center Medical Intensive Care Unit with Stegemiller and lived with her daughter Sherri. 

Christy: “Linda was so pushy—in a good way. That’s how I ended up donating to the Good Samaritan Fund. She was our champion for campus campaign. She’s like, ‘Let’s get people involved!’ I’m like, ‘OK, if you find an animal fund, I’ll do it.’ She comes back very shortly and says, ‘I found this and this and this.’ That’s how I started to donate.” 

Sherri: “After my mom passed away, Christy reached out to me and said, ‘The veterinary center contacted me, and they want me to do a tour. I would not have gotten this opportunity had your mom not signed me up to donate.’ The more I talked to Christy, the more I thought, ‘You know what? We have used the vet center so much. That Good Samaritan Fund is so important to people who don’t have the funds to take care of their animals. This was very important to my mom. How do I build on this?’ I set up a fund in my mom’s name for that reason. But it wouldn’t have happened if Christy hadn’t reached out to let me know.” 

Christy: “She did love the vet school. I know you took your animals there.” 

Sherri: “Yeah. Bernie was our first one that was treated. He had a heart specialist. One of our dogs had an emergency and was treated there. And my current dog had water therapy there. In every circumstance I’ve been there, everyone has been so kind. What better way to continue to honor my mom than to set up a legacy donation in her name?” 

Christy: “She was beloved. She really was.” 

Sherri: “Look at how my mom is giving back and she’s not even around. To learn about the impact she had makes me feel so good. If it wasn’t for Christy reaching out and then veterinary medicine reaching out about a story, I would not have set up this fund in her name to help other people.” 

Christy: “I signed up that day, and I just kept going. Every year, I’m like, ‘Yeah, re-up, re-up, Linda.’ And now it’s such a great way to honor her and her pushiness.” 

Illustrations by Michael Hoeweler