A group of dog owners is raising money for a potentially game-changing clinical trial for puppies with a rare disease.
“He has such a zest for life, he’s so cute, the way he looks at you with those eyes, you can’t help but fall in love with him,” Mila Rucker said.
Sonny is a one-year-old pit bull mix that Rucker adopted from a rescue and soon learned he had hemophilia. Hemophilia is a rare blood disease that is commonly heard in people.
“I had no idea,” Rucker said.
She lives in constant fear that even the slightest injury or scratch can cause life-threatening bleeding. Therefore, Sony’s activities are very limited.
Veterinarians often recommend euthanizing dogs with hemophilia.
“I couldn’t do that in my heart, so I thought a lot about what I had to do to give this dog a chance to live and live his best life, no matter how long it was. I wanted to give it to him. ”
CBS Philadelphia
She spent thousands of dollars on blood transfusions after her injury and joined a group pushing for clinical trials of gene therapy that previous research had shown to be effective.
“They treated nine research colony dogs with hemophilia, and all nine lived another 10 years,” said veterinarian Monica Revell.
Rebel is leading a fundraising effort to support new clinical trials, as gene therapy is currently not available for dogs.
“We want to spread the word that there is hope for these dogs,” Rebel said. Additionally, they are trying to raise $50,000 for clinical trials.
CBS Philadelphia
Rucker is helping raise funds for the trial in hopes that Sonny will have a better life if he receives gene therapy.
“This is life-changing…Once they go through this clinical trial, they’ll be able to play like normal dogs,” Rucker said.
Research into treatments for dogs with hemophilia has helped develop treatments for people with hemophilia. However, there are currently no treatments for humans that can help dogs with hemophilia.
More from CBS News
Stephanie Stahl
