Cuddles was an owner surrender to a shelter in Vancouver, WA. When shelters have older or hard to place dogs, they will often call on rescue groups to assist. We were contacted by the shelter about Cuddles on 11/17 stating they had a 13-year old owner surrender they wanted to see if we could take. In talking with the shelter, I learned that her owners had given her to some friends or a family member some 2 months ago and since then, she had been living in the garage. In addition, she had a severe case of flea bite dermatitis and was riddled with sores, skin deterioration and very little coat on the back 1/3 of her back and hind end.

Older dogs can be very difficult to place and many times come to Rescue with health issues. However, the thought of her living in a garage haunted me. I made a few phone calls and our board members agreed we needed to try to help this girl. Much to my elation, one of our foster families agreed that they would foster Cuddles for however long it took to get her healthy and adopted or see her through to end-of-life.

The day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 23rd, we went to the shelter to evaluate Cuddles. We knew we couldn't get her into foster care yet but wanted to meet Cuddles and see what we were dealing with. We met Cuddles and were appalled by her condition and how long she must have been suffering. The phrase "bag of bones" quickly comes to mind and the loathing for whoever let her get to this point is astounding. One look at Cuddles and we knew then and there, we would pull her that minute.

The foster home agreed to immediately take her but before delivering her to their care, a bath was in order. Caked with feces and skin debris, this gentle little soul allowed herself to be bathed in warm water for an hour or better, never once growling or giving any indication that she was anything but grateful. A vet appointment was scheduled for Monday but in the meantime, Cuddles would be clean, warm and in a safe & quiet environment.

Over the weekend Cuddles showed signs of being sick. Her inability to keep food down, loose stool and finally a nose bleed gave us cause for great concern. Our fear was realized when the vet told us the vast number of lumps and bumps we had felt were advanced lymphoma. Doing what was best for Cuddles, we elected to let her go rather than allow her to suffer one more minute on this earth.

We only had Cuddles in our care for 3 days but those were obviously the best 3 days she had spent in many months or perhaps years. This may not seem like a "Happy Tail", but what better gift to give one of God's own than to allow it some love and comfort at the end of life. This is after all, what Rescue does and will continue to do.