A few weeks ago, Mercedes called On Air with Ryan Seacrest for Tell Me Something Good and revealed that her dog, a rescue named Romeo, ruptured two ligaments in his hind legs that developed into severe arthritis, causing him limp and walk sideways in pain. When Mercedes brought Romeo to the vet, they gave her the option to pay over $8,000 to repair his legs, or opt out for something cheaper: amputation.
Heartbroken by the story, Ryan decided to foot the bill so Romeo could keep both of his legs. After Romeo's first surgery last Monday (March 13), he and Mercedes came in studio to give Ryan and the team an update.
Mercedes also explained why Romeo plays a huge role in her life, revealing that she grew up in the foster care system and bounced around from family to family. Instead of falling into a destructive lifestyle, she said, "I put my energy into Romeo when I saw that he needed me the most."
"I really kind of isolated myself from the world at one point, and he kind of helped me get out of that," she continued. "Romeo was a rescue ... One day I was watching a TV show and I saw an animal cruelty [commercial] ... I was feeling down that week and I looked online and I saw these dogs needed to be rescued. When we got [Romeo], he was very emaciated and he was three weeks old. So we took him in and we bottle fed him."
Romeo's second and final surgery is in May, and Ryan and the rest of the team wish him a speedy recovery! You can follow Romeo and Mercedes' journey on Instagram here.
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