It was the kind of telephone call
we’re used to getting at GRRI-NJ: one of the many shelters that we
work with throughout New Jersey needed us to take a senior Golden to
make room for other dogs. We put the call out to our volunteers, and
got to the shelter within 48 hours to get the dog; again, nothing out
of the ordinary for us.
When our volunteer arrived at the
shelter, however, he was met by a shelter volunteer who had tears in
her eyes. She had been caring for this sweet old guy for several
weeks since he had been brought in by the police as a stray, and
realized that because of his age and physical condition, he was
unlikely to be adopted at the shelter. Worse, she recognized that he
was declining in the stressful shelter environment. A few tears
turned into sobs as we signed the paperwork and moved “Merv” to the
car. Clearly, this beautiful Golden had worked his magic on a veteran
shelter worker who had seen a lot of sadness over the years.
It didn’t take long for Merv’s
charm to work its magic at his foster home. Merv had some sort of
spinal damage that limited the function of his rear legs, but he was
eager to walk and even run, occasionally dragging a leg and sometimes
toppling over. No matter: he’d scramble up again and keep on going.
He also had a nasty chronic psuedomona infection that caused his ears
to fill with a thick green gunk several times a day. It was probably
this infection that robbed Merv of his hearing; his ear canals were
already calcified by the infection.
We work hard at GRRI-NJ to make
good matches with potential adopters, and we knew that finding the
right home for an old (our vet estimated his age as 11-12), lame,
deaf dog would be a challenge. But we shouldn’t have worried: Merv
made the choice for us, and after just a few weeks in his foster
home, our volunteer applied to adopt Merv permanently.
Despite his infirmities, Merv’s
good cheer and playfulness made him an easy and agreeable member of
the family. Whether it was the thumping of his tail that began each
morning, or the mouthful of stuffed animals that he brought to the
door to greet his new family at the end of the day, Merv reminded us
how much life and love there is in even an old dog with some physical
problems. For his part, his family was happy to give Merv a taste of
the good life that we suspect eluded him for much of his life, as
just a small repayment of the joy he gave them.
With sadness, we note that Merv
has passed away.
