Bride-to-be sacrifices wedding day to pay for £3k lizard chemotherapy

A woman delayed her wedding day so that she could afford chemotherapy treatment costing more than £3,000 for her sick pet lizard.

Lizard fan Lizzie Griffiths, 25, made the huge sacrifice so that her bearded dragon George could undergo chemo – the first treatment of its kind for the exotic species in the UK.

Teacher Miss Griffiths, of Purley, South London, discovered that George had developed a tumour on his face after adopting him from an animal rescue centre in 2011.

She refused to have the reptile put down and talked fiancé Chris Fisher into using their wedding fund to pay for the treatment.

The bride-to-be told The Sun: "I fell in love with George the minute I saw him and knew I'd do anything to look after him properly.  So right now, we can't afford a wedding."

Speaking with Yahoo! New, a spokesman for the Amphibian and Reptile Groups UK (ARG UK) said: “It’s fantastic that someone thinks so passionately about their lizard. The world would be a better place if someone cared that much for an animal.”

George is currently on the mend and is said to be in remission after the treatment.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/bride-to-be-sacrifices-wedding-day-to-pay-for-%C2%A33k-lizard-chemotherapy.html 

Lucas and Juno: Special bond of a rescue dog and dying boy

As nearly anyone who has adopted a dog or cat from a shelter can attest, there’s something special about a rescued pet; it’s as if the animal senses he’s been given a second chance at life. That’s certainly the case with Juno, aBelgian Malinois who was rescued from a shelter just days before she was to be euthanized. But since coming to live with her family in Alcoa, Tenn., Juno has taken on the role of rescuer to four-year-old Lucas Hembree.

Lucas suffers from Sanfilippo syndrome, an inherited, metabolic disease caused by the absence or malfunctioning of an enzyme needed to break down long sugar molecules. As the disease progresses, children lose the ability to speak, walk and eat. The disease also causes severe neurological damage that leads to aggressive behavior, hyperactivity and seizures.

“The most catastrophic thing parents hear when they learn their child has this disease is that there’s no cure or treatment available,” says Lucas’ father, Chester.

Unless that changes, Lucas isn’t expected to live past the age of 15 and may be in a vegetative state by the time he is eight. Realizing that every moment is extra precious, Chester and his wife, Jennifer, want their son to experience as much as he can while he still has the capacity to enjoy it.

Prayer and persistence So when the disease started to take a toll on Lucas’ joints, Chester looked into getting a service dog to keep Lucas steady when he walked. “I was told that a service dog would cost at least $15,000, and that Lucas wasn’t a good candidate because of his deteriorating abilities and his behavior,” Chester says. “I refused to accept this answer.”

Continued:  http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46168614/ns/todaytoday_pets_and_animals#.TyaX-8V-XtE