BOSTON -- Former Red Sox slugger Mo Vaughn is coming to the rescue of a dog who has cancer and needs an operation, according to a report in the Sun Chronicle.

Mark Casieri's dog, Angel, a pit bull, was formerly owned by Vaughn. The dog will be 13 and is in need of the operation, but Casieri said that he does not have the money to cover the expense, the paper reported.

Casieri, a postal worker in Brockton, said that he met Vaughn through a mutual friend early in the pinch hitter's career. He later helped Vaughn get the dog from a breeder, but he eventually decided he could not keep the dog so he gave it to Casieri.

Casieri had bills of more than $17,000 from Boston's Angell Memorial Hospital and said that he's been late on mortgage payments, but by working overtime and holidays, he got bill down to $5,000, the Sun Chronicle reported.

Casieri said that he lost touch with Vaughn and had not talked to him in six years, but after Vaughn was contacted by The Sun Chronicle, he said he'd help with the dog's health expenses.