By MDBayNews Staff
GERMANTOWN, Md. — A Germantown woman is asking for help covering nearly $9,000 in veterinary bills after her service dog, Saint, was struck by a car earlier this month and spent three days in intensive care before coming home.
Deyanira Mora said Saint was hit shortly before 2 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4. She said the family still does not know who was driving or responsible for the crash. Saint was rushed to a local emergency vet before being transferred to Friendship Hospital for Animals, a 24-hour emergency and critical-care hospital in Northwest Washington, where he remained in the ICU for three days.
Saint fought to make it home, Mora wrote, and now she’s “fighting to give him the recovery he deserves,” in a message sent to local news outlets this week.
Mora said Saint is more than a pet. He is a trained service dog who helps her manage moments when she becomes overwhelmed and redirects her attention when she loses focus. During his hospitalization, she and her family made repeated trips between Germantown and Washington to be with him.
- Saint was struck around 2 p.m. on Sept. 4 in Germantown.
- He spent three days in intensive care at Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington.
- Veterinary costs have reached roughly $9,000, not including ongoing medication and follow-up care, according to Mora.
- He is now home but still recovering, per Mora’s account.
Photos Mora shared show Saint, a small dog with dark, wiry fur, in a cone and bandages during treatment, and later resting at home in a recovery bed with his cone still on.
Mora has started a GoFundMe campaign, gofund.me/63c97a495, to help offset the cost of his care. MDBayNews has not independently verified the fundraiser’s total or its use of funds and is relaying the request as provided by the family. Readers considering a donation to any crowdfunding campaign should use their own judgment, as MDBayNews does not vet or endorse individual fundraisers.
MDBayNews was not able to independently confirm details of the crash, including the driver’s identity, with Montgomery County police at the time of publication. This account is based on Mora’s statement to local outlets, including MDBayNews, and has not been corroborated by law enforcement records or the treating veterinary hospital.
A county already talking about service dogs
Saint’s crash comes during National Service Dog Month, and it lands the same week nearby Rockville’s city government has been publicly focused on the issue. Rockville City Councilmember Adam Van Grack said on social media this week that he met with local service dog advocates to discuss how the city could better support service dogs and their handlers, including a possible Rockville Service Dog Advocacy Task Force. He said the Mayor and Council planned to formally recognize National Service Dog Month at Monday’s meeting.
Rockville’s Mayor and Council have proclaimed September as National Service Dog Month in past years, including in 2024, so this year’s recognition would extend an existing practice rather than break new ground. The city’s own public events calendar confirms a Mayor and Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, matching the timing in Van Grack’s post. MDBayNews has not independently confirmed that a service dog proclamation or task force discussion is actually on that meeting’s agenda, and is treating that specific detail as an unverified lead pending confirmation from the city.
Germantown and Rockville are both in Montgomery County, though they fall under different local governments. Germantown is unincorporated and governed by the county, while Rockville is its own municipality. Saint’s case would not fall under any Rockville city initiative, but it lands in the same county, during the same month, as local officials are publicly discussing how to better support service dogs and the people who rely on them.
What to Watch
Whether Montgomery County police identify a driver in the case, how Saint’s recovery progresses in the weeks ahead, and whether Rockville’s Mayor and Council formally act on a service dog task force at Monday’s meeting.
Sources: This report is based on a written account and photographs submitted directly to MDBayNews and several other regional outlets by Deyanira Mora on Sept. 9, 2026. Friendship Hospital for Animals’ emergency and critical-care services were independently confirmed through the hospital’s public job postings and third-party directory listings. Background on Rockville’s National Service Dog Month proclamations draws on the city’s 2024 proclamation, published on rockvillemd.gov. The Sept. 14, 2026 Mayor and Council meeting date was independently confirmed on Rockville’s public events calendar. Councilmember Adam Van Grack’s comments on a possible service dog task force and that meeting’s specific agenda come from his own social media post and have not been independently confirmed by MDBayNews; they are treated here as an unverified lead, not confirmed fact. MDBayNews was unable to independently verify the crash with Montgomery County authorities before publication.
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