Volunteer Vet Collective

Now fundraising · K9 Responder Foundation

One critically sick dog. One lifeline for a veteran.

Bumper needs emergency vet care now. Bravo is training to become a psychiatric service dog for a veteran. This month every dollar goes to K9 Responder Foundation to get them both there.

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K9 Responder Foundation

They take the dogs other places can't: medical cases, long-stay shelter dogs and dogs rescued from fighting rings. Each dog is treated, then trained, either for a new home or as a psychiatric service dog for someone who needs one.

I'm visiting them on December 5 to film the work, so you can see exactly where your money goes.

Most urgent

Bumper is critically sick

Case fileCritical
Bumper lying on the clinic floor in his cone, stitches where his eyes were
Patient
Bumper, 5 years
Rescue
K9 Responder Foundation
Surgery
Both eyes removed, 27 October
Sodium
198. A healthy dog sits around 145.
Now
Emergency hospital: IV fluids and round-the-clock monitoring
Estimate
About $6,000, invoice to follow
Bumper at the clinic. Tap to play.

History

At the end of October, Bumper had surgery to remove both of his eyes. He came through it well. In his foster home he was learning to find his way around in the dark, cone and all, and he was healing the way you hope a dog will.

On 8 November he started vomiting and stumbling. His bloodwork showed a sodium level of 198. A healthy dog sits around 145. At that level water is drawn out of the brain, and dogs can have seizures, collapse or die.

He was sent straight to an emergency hospital. His sodium can't be brought down quickly, because correcting it too fast causes the brain to swell, so it has to come down slowly, over days, with bloodwork checked through the day and night. The cause isn't known yet, and he needs more tests to find it.

K9 Responder has been quoted about $6,000 for his care. They took Bumper on knowing he would need more than most dogs. Paying his bill is the first thing this fundraiser does.

The lifeline

Bravo will be a veteran's lifeline

Bravo is a young German shepherd with the temperament for service work. Training turns that into a dog who stands beside a veteran through the hardest days, every day.

Case fileTraining
Bravo, a young German shepherd, sitting on a woodland path with his head tilted
Patient
Bravo
Breed
German shepherd
Age
1.5 years
Plan
Psychiatric service-dog training, then placement with a veteran
Goal
$10,000. Anything over starts a medical fund for future rescues.

K9 Responder Foundation

The dares

These dares are on hold. GoFundMe doesn't allow dares linked to donations, so I can't offer them while donations go through GoFundMe. Once the charity moves to its own donation platform, they'll be back, and I'll post an update here and on Instagram and TikTok.

My update on Bumper and this fundraiser.

Past fundraisers

Where the money went

Every fundraiser, what it raised after transaction fees, every transfer sent, and what the money paid for.

October 2026 · British Columbia, Canada

The Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary

A sanctuary for rescued farm animals, with no vet on staff. I spent two days there volunteering and filming their work.

Donated, after fees
$3,543
Sent to Happy Herd
$3,545
Private donation
$2,000

Transfers

  • October$3,100
  • October$235
  • 8 Nov$210

What it paid for

  • Vet medication, 2 OctC$1,168
  • Feed account payment, 16 OctC$1,374
  • Emergency vet visit for Scooter, at the end of her life, 1 NovC$783
  • Feed, 4 NovC$1,871

Dares

  • $1,000Ate Da Bomb hot sauce
  • $2,500Indoor skydiving
  • $5,000Slept over with the goats

October to November 2026 · Ukraine

Global Animal Rescue and Response

GARR works on Ukraine's front line with local vets, shelters and even human medics: stabilising injured animals, evacuating them from high-risk areas, and getting food and supplies to clinics and shelters.

Donated, after fees
$539
Sent to GARR
$539
Dog food donated
330 kg

Transfers

  • 3 Nov$539 by wire

What it paid for

  • 120 kg of dog food (eight 15 kg bags), 9 Novabout $185
  • 50 litres of diesel to reach a village hit by strikes, 9 Novabout $112

Paid in hryvnia and converted at the day's rate.

The Royal Canin donation

Royal Canin Ukraine is sending a pallet of about 330 kg of pet food to Second Chance shelter, arranged with GARR. It's on its way now, and I'll share footage of it arriving.

Why my trip is postponed

I was due to join GARR in Ukraine as a trauma vet. My 14-year-old beagle Lola has been diagnosed with cancer, and I need to be home with her. The trip is postponed, not cancelled, and everything raised has gone to GARR.

About

An emergency vet, one organisation at a time

Charlie is an Australian veterinarian who spent four years in emergency practice before moving to Los Angeles. She missed the work and wanted to keep making a difference, so she started Volunteer Vet Collective: each fundraiser, she picks an animal organisation, visits, films what they do, and raises money for them.

Her own income pays for travel and filming. Donations go to the organisations.

  1. Pick an organisation. Rescues, sanctuaries and response teams doing real work, at home and overseas.
  2. Visit and film. Showing what they do and what they need, on Instagram and TikTok.
  3. Raise and send. Donations are forwarded to the organisation and the receipt is posted here.

As featured in HuffPost, OK! and The Blast

Volunteer Vet Collective is being set up as a California nonprofit. Until it is approved, donations go through GoFundMe and are not tax-deductible.

In the media

Press

Receipt