Rescue Tails / Buford

By Tammy Fox, Executive Director, Florida Keys SPCA

Each chapter of our lives can offer a new path.  The same often holds true for the animals we get to know along the way. The early chapters in Buford’s life will remain a mystery, but we’ve had the privilege and pleasure of following his story since he came to us early in 2017.

Chapter One:

Our animal control officers received a call about a dog being publicly mistreated by his owner.  We ended up taking the dog into custody. He was a very emaciated senior Lab mix (approximately eight years old) who, despite his poor condition and alleged harsh treatment, still had a smile on his face.  After discussing the well-being of his dog, the owner agreed to leave him with us, and so began the next chapter in Buford’s life.

Chapter Two:

Given his size and age, we expected him to be with us for a while, as is typically the case with older larger-breed dogs in shelters. But in Buford’s case, his inherent sweetness trumped everything else, and in less than a month, Emilie fell in love with him, and said she very much wanted to take him home. We were probably more overjoyed and excited than he was! Once home, the next chapter of his life unfolded and from updates and pictures we saw that Buford had begun to live his “second chance” dream life. “Buford is so well adjusted to his new home,” wrote Emilie, adding “He’s putting on weight nicely. I gave him a bath today and he was very well behaved. Everywhere we go, he gets compliments on how handsome and sweet he is. We are very lucky to have him in our family!”

Chapter Three:

Months later:  “It’s been a while since a Buford update. He’s 95 pounds now, quite an improvement from the 74 pounds when we adopted him. He had a benign tumor removed from below his right ear in August and has fully recovered. He was such a trooper wearing a cone for a month… We couldn’t imagine life without him.”

Chapter Four:

Now almost ten, we heard, “He’s doing well, is healthy but getting to be an old man, especially since the arrival of his (human) baby sister. He is so great with the baby. He never leaves her side, sleeps by her crib, brings her toys when she cries. He wants to play with her but I can tell he holds back because he knows she is fragile.  The baby is still too young to understand what he is, but I know they’ll be best friends soon. We love him so much! “

We are so grateful for all the wonderful “second chances” that adopters like Emilie and her family give to our dogs. During the month of October, adoption fees for dogs and cats at both Key West and Marathon campuses are being covered by very generous sponsors. We hope you will consider adding a new chapter to your own life by giving a homeless animal a second chance.

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