Willie and the Magic Bed

Several weeks ago I wrote about The Grey Muzzle Organization, a group of volunteers who work to improve the lives of older dogs who have been abandoned or left homeless. I just love their Donate a Bed program. If you’re looking for a last-minute gift for the dog lover on your holiday list, why not donate an orthopedic bed to an older shelter dog in their name?

With their permission, I would like to share the following uplifting story that appears in the current Grey Muzzle newsletter:

Grey Muzzle provides funding for orthopedic beds and Kuranda cots for the senior dogs at Washington State's Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County. Last week, the Humane Society sent us this story. We were amazed. And so glad that we could play even a small part. We'll let the Humane Society tell the story in their words:

Willie came to us as a miserable, crippled up old shepherd mix who had a badly healed pelvic fracture, terrible skin, fungal ears, tumors, etcetera. He was going to be euthanized but we were holding him for a few days in case an owner claimed him. We actually held him two days beyond because he was doing well on pain medicine and was starting to rally. He just had such a great spirit, and something made us put it off just one more day. I think having a comfy bed, off the floor made him much happier than wherever he’d been sleeping!

Willie was scheduled to be euthanized after we closed Friday night (at 6:00), and around 5:00 a woman came in and identified him – an old neighbor had seen Willie when he came in looking for his dog, and called her to say he was sure he saw her Mom’s dog at the shelter. She came down, and sure enough, it was Willie. The strange thing was, her Mom died 2 ½ years ago, and the dog ran away during the memorial service. She has always felt so guilty about it.

Then, here he is nearly three years later, looking awful! He had probably been hit by a car and not treated for the pelvic injury, and he was at least six or seven when he disappeared. She couldn’t stop crying. We transferred him out to her van and she took him right to her vet. (The great thing about the beds is you can pick them up like a stretcher and carry the dog without moving him off of it.) He is under her vet's care, and we don't know how long he'll be with us, but he will have at least a few days at home to be loved.

I'd say Willie's bed had a lot of love tucked into it...and perhaps a little Christmas Magic!

Chris