Sparkling Magpie : Save Erlenbek Dotcom - a necklace to help fundraise for his surgery

Sunday 11 December 2016

Save Erlenbek Dotcom - a necklace to help fundraise for his surgery

Erlenbek Dotcom is a beagle puppy who needs life-saving surgery. At first it was thought that he was suffering from the fatal condition Patent Ductus Arteriosus - where a valve in his heart didn't close after birth. The treatment required involves either open heart surgery in order to seal the valve or keyhole surgery and the insertion of a device to fix the valve. Both these are one off surgeries which would allow him to carry on living his happy life. After Dotcom had a scan on his heart on the 9th December, however, his heart condition was found to be even more serious than first thought. He has Pulmonic Stenosis - there is a blockage in the heart itself whereas before when it was thought he had PDA the valve outside his heart was affected. This means the surgery will be even more delicate and specialist in nature and cost even more money as he will need referring to another canine cardiology clinic. The heart scan he has just had cost £500 and unfortunately for Dotcom and his owners both operations cost around £3000 and as its a congenital defect treatment is not covered by his insurance. His owners are desperately fundraising so Dotcom can undergo treatment and tthey have opened an Etsy shop - erlenbek.etsy.com where they are selling necklaces, a beagle calendar, sleeping beagle Christmas cards which feature Erlenbek Piper Maru and a Christmas card featuring Dotcom when he was only 10 weeks old. They are also selling some original signed prints and a little accessories bag.

The necklace I bought cost £13.99 plus shipping and is handmade by Cordula Decker who is the proud owner of Erlenbek Elsa Inu. All the proceeds from the necklace are donated to the appeal. She has made these necklaces as part of the fundraising effort to save Dotcom and there is only one of each so they are unique pieces. The necklaces have nickel - free clasps and I found mine easy to grip when fastening it. The wooden beads are hand painted and the other beads are acrylic. The necklace is extendable from 37cm to 42cm. They are eyecatching, unusual and delicate necklaces. They are not heavy or bulky to wear, fitting comfortably around the neckline. The colours available at the moment are lime green, black and violet, brown and teal and black and pink. Other colours are available on request.