About two years ago we were walking through the dog adoption event at our local park in Taichung, Taiwan and fell in love with this guy. He was insanely cute, shaggy and lovable and so he joined our family.

He's hugely energetic and eternally happy, but we knew he had some health issues. His mother (still in a shelter) and sister (adopted from the same event) suffered from hip problems and we noticed them in Muck too. He had trouble going up stairs and an odd walk. But the vet didn't notice anything serious so we assumed he was okay.

This March he was playing with his adopted brother Malky and ended up falling over. By the next day he was walking on three legs and we took him to the vet. The diagnosis was hip dysplasia, a serious genetic condition which causes lameness and great pain.

On our vet's recommendation we took him to another vet in Taipei, experienced in this kind of condition, for a second opinion. And it's confirmed, hip dysplasia. The only realistic option given his situation and young age (just 2.5 years) is total hip replacement surgery on both legs.

This is expensive here because parts must be imported with huge duties to be paid and there's a lack of both equipment and trained specialists. The cost was several times what we expected, $500,000 Taiwanese. We love Muck and we need to do this but we simply don't have that kind of money lying around.

We're hoping people like you can help give Muck the life he deserves. He can walk, run and jump again. He can go to the park without being exhausted by pain after ten minutes. He can play with his big brother and little sister the way they want to play with him.

It's a lot of money, but anything we can raise will help. Should the truly unexpected occur and we raise more than the total, we will pledge all excess funds to medical bills for other rescue animals here in Taichung.

Thank you for reading our story. I hope you can help our pup or spread the word around.