Ryan Leeds

Please refer to this update!

I have raised enough to ship Cordy.

I am a 23-year-old trans man who is currently homeless in Los Angeles, CA. I had to get out of Iowa City, where I was staying before because of several suicide attempts that made it impossible for me to work. As I wasn't working, I was unable to pay rent. I moved to LA because there were more resources for homeless youth than in Iowa City (one shelter) and because I was planning on moving in with my girlfriend in August who was going to move back to Pasadena. I am currently working on getting SSI, but I don't know when that's going to come through. A month? A couple of years? It's impossible to tell.

I had to leave my dog in Iowa City with my SO because I took the Greyhound out to LA and there was no way to get into a shelter with her. The plan was my SO was going to be moving out to San Francisco in August when the lease was up and they would, if I paid for the extra gas and day of the U-haul, bring my dog with them to LA.

That plan is no longer viable. My SO will not be able to get to San Francisco in August and will not be able to take care of my dog in their new apartment, as sneaking in a 60 pound barky dog to a small apartment is not a good idea if you value your housing.

So I have two options. Give up my dog or raise the money to get her shipped to LA.

When I say my dog is my life, I mean it literally. I'm severely bipolar and during my depressive swings I get very suicidal. She has been the last thing I could hold onto to keep me from killing myself so many times. When my SO and I would be talking about my suicidal thoughts, they would give up talking about them and my friends and focus on Cordy. I am all she has. She was trapped in a bathroom for most of her childhood and forced to have two litters of puppies before she turned 2. She was on the 24 hour list at a kill shelter. When I met her, she came over and put her head in my lap. I named her Princess Cordelia, from King Lear, because I knew she would never lie about how much she loved me.

Not only can I not handle losing her, I can't imagine what putting her in a new home would do to her. My dog has as many problems as I do. She acts out, is afraid of tile half the time (and the oven), and aggressive to other animals. It took her months for her to warm up to me. I'm not sure she can handle changing homes again. She's also a large adult dog. The chances of her being adopted are slim.

I am trying to raise enough money to get her shipped to LA. What that means:

I need to take her to the vet and get a health certificate.
I can't find her vaccination records, so she needs a new rabies shot.
I can probably ship her for $302.81 via American Airlines.

ANY donation can help. I need my dog. She needs me.

My paypal is yandoryn (at) gmail (dot) com

I don't know what I can offer you in return, but I will forever be in your debt. And Princess Cordelia will be as well. (Although, if you leave me prompts, I can write you things!)

Edit: Thank you so much for all of your generous donations.

I will already be able to cover the cost of the kennel, the vet visits, and part of the shipping cost.

Edit 2: People have asked for pictures of the princess, so have some!


( Introducing Princess Cordelia )