Dog’s best friends

About two weeks ago, 71-year-old Gary Van Horn was an emotional wreck.

His income — based almost solely on commission from his sales job and Social Security checks — had plummeted, like so many other things, due to the recession. A former pastor in Northern California, Van Horn worried daily about how he and his wife would pay the rent for their Costa Mesa home that month. They had to scrape by so much that they routinely had to set aside money just for rent, guaranteeing that if they could afford nothing else, they’d at least have a roof over their heads.

To top it off, one of the Van Horns’ last objects of joy and happiness, their 12-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, Knick Knack, was slowly dying because of a tumor on the side of her stomach.

On May 19, a sobbing, merciful Van Horn grabbed $100 from his rent fund and took Knick Knack to the Costa Mesa Animal Hospital to be euthanized. It was the only way to ease her suffering because he couldn’t afford the $500-plus surgery to remove the tumor, he said.

But as Van Horn sees it, the Lord intervened. Van Horn met Dr. Scott Duston for the first time that day. Duston, the humble, matter-of-fact veterinarian, saw Van Horn’s bond to Knick Knack and removed the tumor, telling Van Horn to pay for it whenever he got the money.

“I don’t know when I could’ve paid that bill. It may have taken months,” Van Horn said. “He took a chance and God bless him.”

As soon as news spread of Van Horn’s struggles and Duston’s kindness, Van Horn’s bill was paid.

“We always feel like the animals are left behind. We just thought it was the least we could do. I married a man who works his tail off and we just feel that the least we can do is give back ... everything we do gets us back ten-fold,” said Sandy Meadows, who read about Van Horn and Knick Knack in the Daily Pilot. “We wanted this to be one less thing for him to worry about.”

Meadows said she and her daughter knew they had to act. They headed to Costa Mesa Animal Hospital and signed a check for the remainder of Van Horn’s bill: $425. Van Horn took that $100 he had to put Knick Knack to sleep and paid it toward the surgery.

But, to Van Horn and Knick Knack’s surprise, that too, was soon repaid. One of their neighbors gave him $100.

The community’s generosity didn’t stop there. Van Horn had said he wanted to start a Knick Knack Fund at the animal hospital so people in similar situations could afford to help their dogs. The same day Meadows covered Van Horn’s bill, another person gave the hospital $2,000 for the Knick Knack Fund, which had yet to be created.

“We weren’t expecting such a response,” Duston said.

Neither was Van Horn. In one desperate situation, Van Horn had seen his dog saved, the bill covered, and a fund created to make sure others can have the same luck.

Oh, and now Knick Knack has free dog food for life.

“We’re suckers for pups,” said Karen Bennett, who with her family runs Pet Chef Express, a dog food home delivery company in Orange County. “What goes around comes around. We’re just dog lovers, and we could do it.”

Van Horn said Pet Chef Express’ menu offerings were an improvement over Knick Knack’s normal diet, which usually comes with seasonings meant for people. Bennett said she knew Knick Knack was a picky eater, but was glad to hear she took to the nutritious diet voraciously.

“That was all the thanks we needed,” she said with a laugh. “Whenever he needs [food] he just needs to call us and we’ll be happy to drop some off.”

Over the last week, the weight lifted off his and Knick Knack’s shoulders has been replaced with a zest to help others. He hopes Knick Knack’s story will inspire people to find others in need of help. For him, it’s reinvigorated his mission to help the people of the Congo, where he aims to start a ministry and build local economies from the ground up.