Helping Paws
Helping Vets by Saving Pets By Hannah Jaime No pet should cross the Rainbow Bridge too soon; especially because of money. That was imperative in Kal-El Prestel’s case because his dog dad is deployed to Africa. The Chocolate Lab is one of many pets Helping Paws has worked diligently to save the past two weeks. Since 2013, we have helped 2,668 dogs and cats and are proud to say all but a handful had a happy ending.
Just before that mournful decision, he found Helping Paws. His sister rushed Kal-El to Mohnacky Animal Hospital of Vista, which is a participating animal hospital. We immediately covered the cost of intensive treatment. Staff cradled his drooping head all day and closely monitored him. In what seemed like a miracle, Dr. Caitlin Sacco stabilized his heart rate, turned his vitals around and brought him back from the brink of death. “That is seriously so amazing, and it helps tremendously,” SPC. Prestel said. “I’ve been speechless with the support.” Kal-El was transferred to a clinic with overnight care, and we connected Prestel with additional resources. The pup proved true to his name and regained strength.
This was the first time we were dealing with a superhero. “Kal-El [is] the birth name of the coolest superhero ever, Superman, aka Clark Kent,” SFC Joshua Prestel explained. Helping Paws helps keep service members like Prestel united with their pets by providing low and no-cost veterinary care for troops and veterans in need. Without our 501(c)(3), a lot of military families would face the heartbreaking decision of premature relinquishment, or worse, economic euthanasia. Prestel is among our nation’s bravest as an elite Army Special Operations Civil Affairs soldier. In July, the people watching Kal-El could no longer care for him. Prestel paid to send him from the east coast to his sister in San Diego. What happened was harrowing. “After a nightmare experience with a pet shipping company by car, Kal had to be rushed to the emergency vet and was in critical condition,” he explained. Doctors suspect Kal-El was lacking food and water for days and likely suffered a heat stroke. He was bleeding out of both ends as organ failure sank its clutches in. One look at his desolate eyes, and death seemed imminent. “The medical expenses racked up extremely quickly,” he explained via email. “Into the 10s of thousands of dollars. I simply cannot keep him [in] the hospital any longer.” Euthanasia seemed inevitable, but losing his best bud without saying goodbye would be unbearable. 16
WWW.SanDiegoVeteransMagazine.com / AUGUST 2021
Prestel & Kal-El
