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Penticton hero who rescued family from house fire now needs help for his dog

Five-year-old Zippy needs immediate mouth surgery
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Zippy, a five-year-old toy fox/rat terrier, needs immediate surgery to have his teeth removed. (Submitted photo)

After helping save a family in a house fire, a Penticton man is reaching out to the community for help covering the cost of his best friend’s surgery.

Gord Portman’s dog, Zippy is “very sick” and needs immediate mouth surgery or he may be put down.

READ MORE: Penticton man who rescued family from fire says it’s him who needed rescuing

The five-year-old toy fox/rat terrier is currently on antibiotics and struggling to get by. Normally energetic, Zippy’s infection has made him lethargic. Zippy needs to be hand-fed by a human or else he won’t eat.

Zippy has surgery scheduled for Nov. 19 but Portman cannot afford the procedure on his own. Because of this, Portman has launched a GoFundMe page to help with Zippy’s surgery costs.

If Zippy doesn’t get surgery, he may put down. Portman hopes to raise $1,560 to help with the $1652 cost of surgery. So far the page has raised $130.

“Zippy likes to follow you everywhere, he’s very energetic,” said Portman. “He loves his belly rubbed and knows tons of tricks. Zippy is so smart… he has many years left to live.”

Portman entered a recovery program over four months ago shortly after intervening in a Duncan Avenue house fire as a bystander.

Zippy, described by Portman as “the most loving dog ever,” has been staying with friends in Okanagan Falls since Portman entered the treatment program.

Portman has been staying at Discovery House men’s treatment centre for over four months and has been clean and sober for over five months. He previously told The Western News helping to save a family in a March house fire was the wake-up call he needed to get sober.

Portman was recently nominated for a Canadian Bravery Award from the Royal Canadian Humane Association for his actions during the fire.

Zippy’s GoFundMe can be found at gofundme.com/f/zippy-needs-his-teeth-pulled-and-mouth-surgery.

Portman and Zippy (Submitted)


READ MORE: No hesitation; two bystanders assist in Penticton house fire rescue



jesse.day@pentictonwesternnews.com

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Jesse Day

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