Humans of Ireland (HOI) is a website that documents the people of Ireland one picture at a time.
Over on its Facebook page last night, HOI uploaded an image that was accompanied by an emotional story.
Anyone who has ever owned a pet and endured the heartbreak of having to put their beloved animal down will identify with Jackie, the woman featured in the image.
The photographer saw Jackie sitting alone on the campus of UCD and approached her for a picture.
After explaining the HOI project and snapping her image, Jackie burst into tears and informed the photographer that her dog Dora was currently in with the college vet.
Jackie revealed that Dora had just been moved there from another veterinary clinic, where she had spent every penny she had (€2000) on her treatment and was now waiting on a sub from her boss to cover further fees.
The photographer was touched by the story and so decided to start
a donation campaign to help out with expenses.
The post received a phenomenal response on Facebook and donations have been made from folk all over the country.
The post in full reads:
"I approached this girl in UCD today and gave her the usual spiel about HOI. She agreed to let me take her picture. I then sat down beside her and said 'ok I'll ask you the question now' before I got a chance to ask anything, she start to cry, she then apologised and said; 'sorry but my dog is in the vet and is dying'. I felt so bad and apologized for bothering her at such a traumatic time. She said it was ok and that i wasn't to know.l I asked her about her dog which she's had for seven years. The dog had started to vomit 2 days ago and got very ill quickly so she brought it to a vet in the city, the dog had a viral bug and was deteriorating fast, unfortunately that vet couldn't do anymore and referred it to the veterinary hospital in UCD. She has already spent every penny she had (over €2000) for the dogs treatment in the first vet, she said she didn't care about the money as along as the dog was ok. She also had to pay another €500 straight away to UCD vet and there would be another bill at the end of the treatment whatever the outcome.
Her boss was on the way to meet her to give the €500 for the initial treatment and said he'd also help her out with anymore expenses. She said she'll probably have to work for free for a couple of weeks to pay him back.
I asked her was there any hope the dog might pull through, she said the dogs health was up and down at the moment that she'll have to wait and see. At this point a veterinary nurse came out and asked her to come in.
As this girl was telling me her story I felt so bad for her, sobbing her heart out. Not only might she lose her dog but she also might be in a lot of debt by the end of it all. The whole time she was talking to me my brain was in overdrive thinking of ways i could help this girl out. I asked her for her name (Which is Jackie) and took her phone number, gave her a hug, wished her well and that i hope her dog would be ok.
So I've decided to try help this girl out with the massive bill she's going to have which I reckon will be at least €3000, I'm asking for your help to donate even 20cent or whatever you can to try help this girl out.
All the money we receive will be passed onto Jackie.
I'll be in touch with Jackie later on this evening to get an update on how her dog is doing.
Fingers crossed it pulls through". [sic]
Sadly the story does not end well, as Jackie’s boyfriend got in contact with HOI and left a lovely comment underneath the post thanking people for their generosity.
HOI assured people that it was not a scam and they will disclose all donations received and vet receipts.
