Updated 7:30 a.m. Dec. 24: Resident veterinarian Chumkee Aziz has relayed news that the student handling Asia's case received a text message Dec. 23 from the dog's owner, saying that Asia had passed away suddenly. "He said she had started coughing and having trouble breathing for about a week prior to her death," Aziz said in an email to Dateline UC Davis. "I'm sorry to have to pass on such sad news."

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By Dateline staff

The Mercer Veterinary Clinic for the Homeless, run on a volunteer basis by students from the School of Veterinary Medicine, is sharing the case history of Asia as a story that "upholds the human/animal bond that everyone deserves to experience in life."

The clinic first saw the 4-year-old female pit bull in October, and persevered in getting her the surgery she needed for a tumor on her right hind leg.

The nonprofit clinic, independent of UC Davis, is open once a month in a pair of trailers next to Loaves & Fishes, a food and shelter program in Sacramento. Students work at the clinic under the supervision of faculty and others from the School of Veterinary Medicine, offering wellness care, spay and neuter procedures, and other services for the animal companions of homeless people.

Asia’s owner had taken her to a veterinarian in April, when a tumor appeared on her right hind leg, but had been unable thereafter to afford adequate care for the tumor.

Which brought him and Asia to the Mercer clinic in October. By that time, walking had become difficult for Asia, as the tumor had grown to cover her leg and had become infected.

Veterinarian Chumkee Aziz, resident in UC Davis’ Koret Shelter Medicine Program, and the Mercer students on Asia’s case recognized that the tumor was likely cancerous and needed to be surgically removed as soon as possible. The veterinary team also determined that the tumor had grown so large, that Asia’s entire right hind limb would have to be amputated to fully rid her of the cancerous mass.

While the Mercer clinic does extensive fundraising to cover surgeries and other procedures, this particular surgery was beyond the clinic’s budget.

Aziz and student Caitlyn Hwe ’17, the Mercer clinic’s surgery coordinator, searched for low-cost surgery options throughout the community — and struck gold with veterinarian Cristie Kamiya and staff at Humane Society Silicon Valley, or HSSV.

The HSSV charged nothing for the surgery and related services, including bloodwork and chest x-rays to ensure that the cancer had not spread. Asia is now fully recovered.

“Asia’s story is one of many that illustrates the challenges faced by pets and their loving families who do not have access to affordable veterinary care,” Aziz and Hwe wrote in an article on the School of Veterinary Medicine’s website.

"Her story highlights the importance of community collaboration and reflects the shared goals of HSSV, the Mercer clinic and the Koret Shelter Medicine Program to help keep pets in their loving homes, to uphold the human/animal bond that everyone deserves to experience in life, and to prevent more pets from entering our community’s animal shelters.

“Thank you to everyone who helped Asia!”

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