Emergency Surgery for Banjo the Therapy Dog
Halifax's favourite hospital therapy dog swallowed something he shouldn't have. The surgery saved him — help his handler cover it.
Priya Sharma is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Rachel MacNeil (Banjo's handler)
Created June 9, 2026Identity verified
If you've spent time at the children's hospital in Halifax in the last five years, you may have met Banjo: a golden retriever with a hospital ID badge, a tail with its own gravitational field, and a documented talent for knowing exactly which kid needs his head on their lap.
Banjo works (volunteers, technically — his handler Rachel is the volunteer, Banjo considers it his career) three days a week on the pediatric ward. Two weeks ago, with magnificent irony, the dog who comforts sick kids got sick himself: an intestinal blockage from a swallowed toy, requiring emergency surgery at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown.
The surgery worked. Banjo is home, shaved, indignant, and recovering ahead of schedule — the vet's notes literally say "patient is an exceptionally good boy." The bill is $7,400, which for Rachel, a school counsellor who has covered every cost of Banjo's therapy work out of pocket for five years, is the kind of number that doesn't fit in a counsellor's budget.
Rachel never asked for help. The ward nurses started this page anyway, because they've watched Banjo turn the worst day of a family's life into something survivable, three days a week, for free, for years. Anything raised past the vet bill goes to Banjo's continued certification, insurance, and the retirement fund of an extremely good boy. He returns to work next month. The kids have made a banner.
