Donations aided in pug's surgery

Donations aided in pug's surgery

06:44 AM CST on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 Associated Press

FOREST LAKE, Minn. - A little pug named Buck has been saved, thanks to a group of dog lovers who bonded through the Internet.

After the 2-year-old pug was hit by a car last week and broke three legs, its owners, Colleen and Jim Bighley, were faced with a $3,000 surgery bill they couldn't afford.

Colleen Bighley shared her grief on a pug-lovers' Web site and wrote about her plans to give the dog one night at home before putting it to sleep.

But 14 minutes after Bighley's post, a pug owner in Australia offered to donate money for the surgery. Others followed, and more than 200 donations totaling about $2,000 came in, from as far away as France and Alaska.

Buck is home recuperating now, and Bighley has a new appreciation for Web ties.

"Some people think I'm weird because I go on the Internet to talk about my dog," Bighley said. "My sister-in-law told me she can't call me a geek anymore, because all these people saved my dog's life."