What would you do if you were a veterinarian, and a former client who had fallen on hard times emails you to beg for help for his dog?

If you’re Dr. Kathryn Primm, you find a way to help the man, help the dog and help your local animal shelter, too.

“This old client, who I remembered as a big muscle-bound guy, emailed me to say he hadn’t been in for many years, but his tiny Chihuahua had a mammary mass bigger than her head,” Dr. Primm said. “He didn’t know what to do, so I told him to bring her in.”

Dr. Primm was worried when he brought the dog to see her at Applebrook Animal Hospital in Ooltewah, Tenn., because it was clear this wouldn’t be a simple surgery. What if she did all this work for free, and it went wrong and he blamed her? Still, she couldn’t let the dog suffer, or the owner, so she agreed to help. But first, she had a question for him.

“I asked him if he had any skills of any kind, if there was anything he could do to pay this forward,” she explained. “I think he was surprised, but he said he was a handyman, and would do anything I asked him to do. So I fixed up his dog, then sent him to the local shelter to lend them a hand.”

Dr. Primm already volunteers for the shelter, the Humane Educational Society of Hamilton County, TN. They had 17 kennel runs in need of repairs, so this man’s skills were a welcome gift.

“I wanted this to be a situation where everybody wins, and it was,” she said. “Because that little 8-pound dog had a mass that weighed nearly half a pound! And she recovered just fine — her owner hugs me every time he sees me. I was so glad I was able to help the man, help the dog, and help the shelter.”

Dr. Primm says her biggest hope is that other veterinarians will be inspired to do something similar the next time someone asks for help for a pet. “I truly believe that we are here on this earth together,” she said, “and if we cannot help each other, what other purpose would there be?”