‘A life is a life’: Spokane-area vet saves pregnant dog after family couldn’t afford C-section

When Tiffany Arbanas took her son’s dachshund, Honey, to veterinarian clinics across Spokane for an emergency cesarean section, she was told that because she didn’t have enough money to cover the surgery, she should consider letting Honey die.

But Dr. Robert Clark didn’t care about payment – he cared about Honey.

Clark specializes in emergency services for pets and runs his business, Critters Care, in Spokane and Spokane Valley.

“He does this for the animals. He’s not doing it for money,” Arbanas said.

Arbanas and her family have had 4-year-old Honey for a few months after rescuing her from a homeless man in downtown Spokane.

Honey began labor on Christmas Day. After three days, Arbanas grew concerned and started taking Honey to clinics in the area. They told Arbanas that she would need to pay around $4,000 up front for Honey to get a C-section. Arbanas only had $1,000.

“It felt like a medical doctor sending a child away because their parents have no money,” she said. “I know it’s an animal, but it’s a life. A life is a life.”

Veterinarians told her to take Honey home and keep her comfortable until she died.

“I said, ‘I can give you $1,000 right now, and my husband, who is an RN, gets paid in four days, and I will give you the rest in four days. But this dog cannot wait four days,’ and nobody would do it,” Arbanas said.

In a last-ditch effort, Arbanas made a post about Honey on the social media site Nextdoor. Within five minutes, there were several comments recommending Dr. Clark.

“Dr. Clark is amazing. From helping animals night, day, weekend, he is there. He helped us let my childhood cat pass at home comfortably with family. And more recently he helped me with my cat on a late night,” local Kayla Parsons wrote to The Spokesman-Review on Wednesday. “He says he can do payment plans and puts the animal first. You can see his passion in the care he gives to animals and their families.”

Arbanas called Clark at 8 p.m. three days after Christmas expecting to leave a voicemail and get a call back in the morning, but Clark answered almost immediately. After Arbanas explained the situation, Clark said he could come help Honey that night. Arbanas quickly said she didn’t have a lot of money to pay for his help.

“And he said, ‘Listen, we’re going to take care of Honey first and we’ll talk about payment later. I’m not going to let a dog die,’ ” Arbanas said.

He gave her antibiotics and said if Honey didn’t give birth naturally that night, he would do the C-section. The next morning, Arbanas drove Honey to Clark for the surgery.

“By the time I got to him, she was, like … I literally didn’t think she was going to make it,” Arbanas said. “I was driving and holding her in my lap, and she couldn’t even lift her head, she was so tired.”

Honey had five puppies, but none of them survived.

Before going to Clark, Arbanas and her son Trenton, 23, both tried to get loans to cover the cost, but both were denied.

“We were at Trenton’s house and he just started crying. I felt so bad. I haven’t seen him cry like that since he was a kid,” Arbanas said. “He just couldn’t lose her. It was so heartbreaking. … I knew if she died, he would not be OK.”

Arbanas found Honey in the fall when she was walking in downtown Spokane and handing out baggies of dog food to folks with pets.

“The dog was so incredibly skinny, you could see her rib cage,” Arbanas said.

Honey’s owner said he couldn’t take care of her anymore, Arbanas said.

“He said, ‘I can’t afford to have her, I can’t even afford to eat,’ ” Arbanas said.

When she offered to take Honey, the man agreed. Arbanas took Honey to Trenton, who bonded with Honey instantly. They didn’t know Honey was pregnant. But when Honey started gaining weight, Arbanas said it was obvious that puppies were on the way.

Even after Honey was stitched up, Clark told Arbanas to talk to him about payment later and focus on Honey’s healing.

“He called 10 times on Dec. 29, the day of the C-section, to check on her,” Arbanas said.

Arbanas ended up paying Clark $1,000 for his help. To thank Clark, not just for saving Honey, but for saving people’s pets for many years, Arbanas has created a GoFundMe to help cover the expenses of medical supplies and medications Clark uses on his furry patients.

Honey is now fully recovered from her C-section and doing well, Arbanas said. Clark declined to be interviewed by The Spokesman-Review, but he noted that his phone continues to ring all day long with calls from people who need help with their pets.