Jen Marion is a teacher who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her fiancé Jim Raschella. The couple is very passionate about helping animals in need and has opened their home to foster rescue dogs, especially Pit Bulls. Jen and Jim also volunteer a lot for a nonprofit rescue organization called Love Mutts Rescue, and that is where they met a sad and lonely dog named Pearl.
A new home
The couple met the pit bull in the group’s shelter, and they were told that she had a big void in her life. She became depressed when she had a miscarriage. Pearl was severely malnourished and riddled with infections, and this contributed to her losing her puppies.
Although she had been acting as a surrogate mother to a group of orphaned pups in the shelter, she still needed the love and attention that she couldn’t get from a crowded shelter. So the couple volunteered to foster her. It didn’t really take long for them to fall for her and they decided to adopt the pooch.
The treatment
Several months after making Pearl a permanent part of their family, Jen noticed that the Pit Bull was losing weight rapidly. They took the sickly dog to several vets who were puzzled about her health situation. Before long they were able to determine that she had Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, a condition that meant that she was lacking digestive enzymes.
The couple didn’t hesitate to get her the proper treatment. And the dog showed good signs of improvement. But this progress also meant pricey health care. They eventually racked up a bill amounting to almost 16,000 dollars.
Jen’s students heard about this and they decided to help out. The young kids set up a lemonade stand and raised almost 120 dollars. A picture of the children’s efforts went viral and this reached Ellen Degeneres.
The surprise
The famous TV host invited Jen and Jim to her show and presented them with a surprise. They were given a beautifully decorated lemonade stand in honor of Pearl. Ellen also gave them 10,000 dollars to help with Pearl’s continuing treatment.
Source: TheEllenShow via Youtube
