New York Bully Crew Seeks Help For Hope

A Nesconset-based animal rescue is seeking the public's help to give a second chance at sight and a better life to Hope, a young abandoned pitbull. 

Craig Fields, a volunteer with the Nesconset-based New York Bully Crew that specializes in rescuing pit bulls, said the organization has started a Go Fund Me fundraiser for $3,000 in hopes of getting a former stray pit bull, named Hope, eye surgery to keep her from going blind. 

"She’s the sweetest dog in the world. I’m so happy I offered to help her," Fields said. "She’s so sweet, it’s really sad that she was loose then she was going to end up in a shelter." 

Fields said he first learned about Hope when she was found wandering the streets by a Florida couple. She suffered from "cherry eyes," when a dog's third eyelid flips over and bulges from the corner of the eye. If left untreated, it can cause blindness as a dog paws and scratches at the irritated eye.  

Fields said he agreed to take Hope in and find her a long-term home if the couple could fund her transportation to New York. 

"They collected money off the Internet then turned her into a shelter," he said. "I felt obligated to continue to help her." 

A fellow animal rescuer picked up Hope from the Florida animal shelter and put her in a boarding kennel for five weeks, until Fields came up with the money to transport the dog to Nesconset. 

Now Hope's scheduled to see a veterinarian for surgery on Oct. 29 to prevent further damage to her eyes, but Fields estimates the double-eye surgery will cost at least $3,000. The organization has raised roughly $700 through an earlier fundraising efforts. 

"I believe whoever in Florida let her go because they couldn't afford the surgery, it’s not cheap," he said. "I can’t let her not have this surgery. It’s so sad to see her with her eyes like that."

All funds raise through the Go Fund Me sight will be used to defray the cost of the surgery and following medical expenses. 

Fields said Hope is gentle, loving and 100 percent housebroken. He expects after surgery, she will be put up for adoption. 

Click here to see the New York Bully Crew's website, and see what other dogs they currently have up for adoption.