How Adopting Underdogs Heals Hearts
We have been fortunate enough to have three fabulous BARCS alumni in our family. We started with Murphy, a super senior hospice case who was found to have a very large tumor within days of coming home with us. Unfortunately, he passed away a week later, and we were devastated.
After our loss, the BARCS team encouraged me to come meet another special member of the family: Lady. She had been a BARCS resident for almost three months, and we instantly fell in love.
Lady helped our hearts heal from Murphy’s passing. At the time, I was working as an oncology nurse and Lady spent many days with me in our infusion room. She sat with patients and quickly became a bright spot at the cancer center.
Though she is very dog selective, Lady fell in love with my sister’s dog while we were dog sitting. She actually stopped playing and eating when the time came for him to go back home. So, we ventured back to BARCS in hopes of finding her a friend.
Lady wouldn’t get anywhere near the 5+ dogs that we tried to introduce her to. We almost gave up when out came a puppy with a major limp and a high pitched bark. Lady’s face lit up and she started stomping her feet in excitement. We learned that Rogue was only nine months old and had a broken leg that needed to be casted. We brought Rogue home, and he limped around the house with his cast for weeks.
When Rogue finally got his cast off, he ran through the woods and got bit by a raccoon. This led to an abscess on his tail requiring a drain and antibiotics. He ended up being allergic to the antibiotic and his entire body turned into one large welt! Needless to say, he has given us a run for our money, but we couldn’t love him more.
Almost three months ago, Lady and Rogue became doggy siblings to our first baby; they are so good with him—very gentle and loving. Our family would not be complete without them, and we could not be more thankful to the BARCS staff for helping them to come into our lives.
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