Plea to pay £6,500 vet bill for Tibby to play again without pain

Tibby - pictured with Kevan McCormick,of Seaside Greyhounds - needs an operation costing £6,500.

Eighteen-month-old Tibby arrived at Seaside Greyhounds in Hogsthorpe needing a full hip replacement.

Jenny McCormick, who runs the centre with her husband, Kevan, says two specialist orthopaedic vets have confirmed that to give Tibby a normal, pain-free quality of life, she requires the operation.

However, the cost to the charitable homing centre would be £6,500 - a lot of money for an organisation that relies on fundraising.

To meet the cost, the couple have launched a crowdfunding appeal, which at the time of going to press had raised £1,786.

"When Tibby arrived she played but we noticed she had a bit of a limp and couldn't stretch her leg out," said Jenny.

"We couldn't rehome her like that and risk the new owners facing an expensive bill so took her to the vets.

"We were told Tibby has no hip socket. If she doesn't have the operation she could seriously injure herself just jumping on the settee - and that could result in an amputation."

Normally, Seaside raise funds with online auctions but activities have been more difficult during lockdown.

"There was a lot of interest in our greyhounds during the first lockdown, but since restrictions on elite sports were lifted and racing started again there has been a steady flow of dogs coming to us.

"Some have come to the end of their racing lives and others come to us with injuries.

"We now have 12 dogs for re-homing and seven of our own, so we would struggle to come up with the cash at this time.

"We understand times are tough but if anyone could spare any amount of money to reach our target, we would really appreciate it.

"Tibby has a lovely temperament and really deserves it."

If you would like to make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/hip4tibby