22 Apr 2025
A St Albans-based accessibility coordinator who worked on Hollywood blockbuster Wicked is in desperate need of the community’s help to save her beloved family dog.
Single mum Chantelle Nassari ensured the hit film was completely accessible to all of its cast, including actor Marissa Bode, who made history as the first disabled actress to ever play the part of Nessarose.
Now she’s fighting for a cause closer to home – her rescue dog Benji.
She explained his story: “Last week Benji appeared to be having back pain and couldn’t weight bear on his rear legs. We immediately took him to the vet where they diagnosed him as having a prolapsed intervertebral disc. They gave him relevant painkillers and anti-inflammatories and we came home.
“But within an hour he was paralysed from the waist down. We took him to the Royal Veterinary College and they discovered that he had several prolapsed discs in his lumber region. He had surgery and an insane amount of disc material was removed.
“The vet said the surgery was successful, however this was on Thursday and he is still there because he has not regained feeling or movement in his lower half. This is normal and will take time to recover, but in the meantime he has to be catheterised. The estimate is coming in at £8,000 and rising so I am trying to raise funds to help him.”
Chantelle and her family first encountered Benji when they were holidaying in Portugal over Easter 2019.
“There was this very skinny bald street dog covered in ticks and fleas who was hovering by the road entrance to our villa. It took him five days of circling our house-to get the courage to approach us. When he did, we cleaned him and fed him and he lay on our doorstep for the duration of our holiday.
“We could go out for the whole day and when we got back, he was waiting for us like he had decided we were his family. He has the sweetest most gentle temperament. We took him to the vet and had him checked for a microchip and within the hour the vets had castrated him, given him all the relevant vaccinations and found a transport company to bring him door-to-door. 21 days later, we were the proud owners of Benji, our Portuguese water dog rescue.
“We already had a full house with two rescue dogs, Shabba and Angel, a rescued house rabbit Rasta and a cat Navy, but he has formed such a bond with everyone, we can’t imagine life without him. He adores and is best friends with Rasta and Navy. Never in my life have I known an animal with so much compassion and love. He totally understands my disability and he moves sensitively alongside my wheelchair, understanding my physical capabilities.”
Chantelle said she and her daughter Maya, 17, can’t imagine life without him, but the bills are mounting, and they are still short by £3,000 having pulled together all available funds.
“He has a real human quality and empathy that I have never experienced in an animal before. When we bought him back from the vet, both Rasta and Navy got in the crate with him and lay by his face while he deteriorated physically. When it first happened, he was trying to bury his face in my body to take away his pain.
“He is Maya’s protector and best friend. We used to play hide and seek with him and I would hold him while Maya went and hid, he would find her every time. He loved that game – he would wait for me to count down and then he would gallop straight to her. He is definitely equipped to be an emotional support animal because if you are ever in any pain physically or emotionally, he won’t leave your side. Everyone who meets him falls in love with him.
“He is so strong and healthy in every way I cannot justify euthanising him because I do not have enough money. I need to raise a minimum of £3,000 to complete the veterinary bills otherwise he will not receive the treatment he needs and the only other option will be to end his beautiful life.”
Chantelle has set up a GoFundMe page to try and raise the remaining funds, and personally asked the St Albans Times to help spread the word: https://www.gofundme.com/f/life-saving-surgery-for-benji-6-year-old-rescued-street-dog
