There is one side of our rescue that gets little recognition, and that is our fospice program. Fospice is a rescue term, fusing together the words "foster" and "hospice". These are pets who enter rescue too old or sick to put up for adoption, but who we couldn't leave behind regardless.
There are amazing people who bring these pets into their homes, knowing full well that they don't have much time left, with the sole intention of showing them as much love and comfort as possible in their last days, weeks, months, and if we're really lucky, years.
We'd like to introduce you to some of the amazing people who have been fospice caregivers, the sweet angels that they care for or have cared for, and their ongoing needs.
Our first fospice case with Rolling River Rescue was Snoop Dogg. He came in in 2017, with the worst teeth our vets at the time had ever seen. The smell of his little mouth was so overwhelming on his transport from the Baton Rouge shelter that his transporter had to ride with the windows down. He had to get every single tooth removed.
We thought that we were home free to start trying to find his forever family then, but he started to have other issues. Our vets said he seemed to be going blind, and he started to have digestive issues that may be cancer and they suggested euthanasia.
We took him off of the adoption market: enter his saving grace Jonna. She said she'd done fospice in the past, and believed that he could still have a great quality of life. She was willing to care for him for as long as he was happy and thriving.
Snoop and Jonna lived together along with her personal pets for almost 3 entire years before he let Jonna know it was time for him to transition.
The world is a better place for everyone with beautiful souls like Jonna. Snoop's life was infinitely better for having found her.