A member of the Potsdam Humane Society Board of Directors is asking people to help a woman with her adopted dog's high medical expenses.

Leanna Hoover is fostering a dog named BooBoo, which was at the shelter for over a year starting when it was a puppy, and discovered that it had an injury that had gone untreated, according to PHS board member Bonnie Boyd.

Fostering means that a person takes the dog into their home until it is adopted, helping it transition from shelter to domestic life.

"Boo showed signs of difficulty with his right rear thigh and was stiff when getting up. Upon visiting a local vet, X-rays revealed that for the past year Leanna’s best friend was walking , running and jumping on a broken femur," Boyd said. "The head of femur, where the leg bone meets the hip joint, was completely broken off. His growth plate was missing from that side, which told of traumatic injury early in life, even before he arrived at PHS. No one knew, except Boo, and he couldn’t tell us!"

Hoover has paid nearly $1,600 thus far, according to Boyd, and needs another $1,000 to cover the remainder of the surgery, plus any post-op rehabilitation.

Leanna, as a student, has limited resources. The Hoovers have two daughters in college. Dad works, and mom is working three jobs," Boyd said in an email. "The family has raised 1050 dollars so far. On surgery day, Leanna will give the vet another 500, which she has earned this summer."

Boyd said there is not enough money in the PHS budget to cover the cost.

"Special needs dogs or cats like Boo are not a line item in our budget," Boyd said. "They should be, but we are having enough trouble just keeping our facility in the black with the regular animals."

Those interested in helping can send donations to Potsdam Humane Society, 17 Madrid Ave., Potsdam, NY 13676. Those sending checks should put "Boo" in the memo line.