Her best friend, a dog, is sick

By Sharon Tubbs, City Times Editor
Published February 15, 2008

Cary Hardin is a server at both Pinky's Diner and Cappy's Pizzeria in South Tampa, and a sometime English tutor, too.

She rents a two-bedroom in Bayshore Beautiful and drives a white 1999 Audi. She doesn't shop much. Doesn't dine at extravagant restaurants or anything like that.

The 39-year-old is happy just getting by.

Life got harder, though, when she realized Buck was sick three weeks ago. Soon, Cary will be about $9,000 deep in medical bills.

She has taken out a line of credit to pay for about half of it in the short term. She'll need to sell the Audi, maybe get a hooptie for $1,000 or so.

Co-workers at Pinky's began baking coffee cake and oatmeal raspberry coconut bars at home, then bringing them to the diner for donations. They call it Bucks for Buck. The first week, they raised $120.

Buck, of course, is a dog - a 5-year-old wirehaired pointing griffon.

Most people are supportive when Cary talks about all this. There are those, however, who look at her like she has lost her entire mind: Is she really going into debt ... for a dog?

"Yeah, I'm spending a lot of money, but there are a lot of people in South Tampa spending money on Botox and fake boobs," she says. "I'm not judging at all, but some people are judging me."

Everyone makes different choices in life. For Cary, Priority No. 1 is a 60-pound pooch with silver hair and brown spots.

"Buck is her best friend. Buck is her everything," says Summer Wallace, the manager at Pinky's and Cary's good friend.

Cary bought him as a pup while living in Breckenridge, Colo. She has no husband, no kids.

"I was 34 when I got him and kind of ready for a commitment."

She owned a bookstore at the time and wanted a gentle dog she could take to work. She did the research and found a breeder in Calgary, Canada, paid $1,000 for Buck and had him shipped to the United States.

It was a sacrifice from the beginning. Cary would pay about $50 a bag for organic food, taking veterinarians' advice to read ingredients carefully.

"I didn't feed him Ol' Roy from Wal-Mart," she says. "I was always so conscientious about it."

That's why she couldn't believe what happened in late January. She noticed what looked like a spider bite in Buck's groin area. It grew in the days to come, so she took him to the vet. Doctors performed a biopsy and determined that Buck had cancer.

Cary didn't have pet insurance, so she would have to pay for the chemotherapy herself. The recommended six-month treatment would cost $5,000.

That first week, Cary couldn't stop crying. Both of her parents had died of cancer - her father when she was 12, her mother when Cary was 26.

The day Buck was to start chemo, Cary noticed him heaving and rushed him to the vet. His stomach had "flipped" into an abnormal position, a condition with a long medical name typically shortened to "GDV." She was presented with two options: They could operate immediately or put Buck down.

The surgery cost $4,000.

Buck started chemo that same day.

Faith keeps Cary's spirits up. "I'm very spiritual," she says. "I know that there's a plan for this."

She loves to see Buck running along the sands of Picnic Island or chasing seagulls and swimming in the bay along Ballast Point. If his treatments are successful, Cary says, her research suggests he could live another one to five years.

Proper care is essential. Cary was already into healthy alternatives and the environment, recycling and using her own cloth bags at the grocery store. Now she's taking "green" to another level.

She used to drink bottled water but recently put a filter on her faucet, fearing that plastic containers may carry toxins harmful to Buck.

She got rid of all chemicals, including cleaning supplies, and now uses vinegar to wash windows and floors.

She turns the other way if she sees a pesticide truck bumbling down the street while she's walking Buck.

And that pricey organic dog food is no longer good enough. She cooks Buck's meals now, using fresh organic chicken and beef with organic vegetables and dashes of garlic.

Cary herself is a vegetarian. She usually nibbles on a little something at work. What she spends on Buck exceeds her personal grocery bill "by far," she says.

But more time with Buck, she says, is worth it all.

How to help

For love of Buck

To donate to Bucks for Buck, go to Pinky's Diner, 3203 Bay to Bay Blvd., or call the restaurant at 831-9339.