Here’s a post where I ask you, my dear readers, to please help me out on an issue that’s been dogging me these past couple of weeks.

Remember Dusty, the sweet, sickly, tick-ridden  Ehrlichia girl of a Virtual Vet Hospital post? One of you, yet again proving your individual and collective wonderfulness as readers, offered to contribute financially to her care. Given that her owner is unable to provide for her, this reader offered to set her up with Frontline and such for future care.

Now, normally I’d be jumping up and down with joy over the power of the Internet to magically solve problems like Dusty’s. But it’s not quite that simple, is it?

For starters, Dusty’s bone marrow has been so depleted we’re not sure how well she’ll do in the long-term. No amount of money can guarantee her health at this point.

Moreover, if and when she goes “home,” there’s a significant chance she’ll end up back at square one if her owner’s limited capacities mean her tick meds won’t be routinely applied.

Then there’s the pesky issue of accepting funds from well-meaning individuals in a responsible and ethical manner. Call me crazy but taking someone’s money via Dolittler gives me a case of the willies.

I worry that my mission to educate and entertain can get blurred by taking money on the side—especially if it comes in sporadically with no means by which a donor can verify their donation’s allocation (and no way to make it tax deductible, either). Soon I’ll have sponsors but that’s something else entirely, isn’t it?

Setting up a not-for-profit is a complex undertaking—one I’d rather not get wrapped up in just for the sake of sporadic donations for specific causes. And yet I want to be able to grant my readers a way to become involved in improving the lives of pets outside their own individual households.

So here’s what I’m thinking: Why don’t I partner with a well-respected not-for-profit organization to help funnel funds to needy animals who happen to yank your heartstrings?

I happen to have a thing for spay/neuter organizations and pets of the homeless. But the organization need not be so focused. I envision my Dolittler slush fund within the confines of a larger entity for allocation in ways YOU individually deem worthy.

OK so perhaps it’s a pipe dream but don’t say I didn’t run it past you first. If there’s any way to make it happen you’re the ones I’d expect to fork over the goods. Then again, maybe I’ll try Maddie’s Fund. Anyone got a good contact?