Shy's Final and Forever
Last week, we received a handwritten letter in memory of a dog we immediately recognized, Shy. When Shy was at BARCS, she was overlooked, a medical mess and down on her luck. We promoted her on a local TV news spot, but still no one came for her. When we posted her photo and story to our Facebook page, it received thousands of shares and hundreds of comments. Shy was the most famous dog in Baltimore that day. But none of that really mattered, because all that Shy actually needed was one person to see the post and fall in love—one person to make and keep the promise to be Shy's "final and forever."
That person was Ellen. Here is her letter:
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Dear BARCS,
On Labor Day 2016, I adopted one of your Franky Fund dogs, Shy. She was a 9-year-old pit bull who had a mammary tumor the size of a grapefruit when she came to BARCS. She had been at the shelter over a month and was stressed out and not eating. But I knew from the moment I saw her; she was the one.
Due to her age and health, I thought we’d have a year together, two if I was really lucky. But Shy thought otherwise. She gave me four amazing years, passing away peacefully earlier this week. She was strong and stubborn, surviving two metastatic tumors and heart failure. I lost count of the number of times a vet told me she had “less than a year to live.”
I want you to know that she lived out her golden years happy and loved.
It was my privilege to care for her. She was by my side through job changes, marriage, and having a baby. She spent warm summer afternoons in the yard chasing bees, and cold winters snuggled in bed or on the couch. She was a sweet, strange, quirky dog, whose chief complaints were that I wouldn’t let her eat my cat, and that the diapers I put on her for incontinence prevented her from licking herself 24/7.
We had four beautiful years in which she taught me so much about being patient, how to love, and putting family before work. She was a really special dog, and I loved her very much.
Thank you for bringing us together,
Ellen Sweeney
Shy’s Final and Forever Mom
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If you're like those of us who opened the letter, it brought you to tears. However, we aren't sharing this story simply to make your heart break, but instead to show the incredible impact one person can make in the life of a homeless animal.
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