August 26 2014
Rusty says it's a great day to be an old dog
When Golden Retriever Rusty was 10 1/2, he ended up in a rescue. His life for many years had been quite good but then something happened in his owner’s life and Rusty needed a new home. There was a family who was going to adopt him. They had just lost their beloved dog and they fell in love with Rusty. But when it was discovered that Rusty had a mast cell tumor on his nose, a common form of skin cancer on dogs, the family didn’t want to put their young child through the possible-too-soon death of another dog.
Pacifica veterinarian Dr. Gary Hurlbut had already fallen in love with Rusty because he had been working with him.
“When it looked like it was going to be difficult for Rusty to find a home because of his skin cancer, Gary said, ’we’ll take him’ without even asking his wife,” laughed Hurlbut’s wife Loring Slivinski. “Because he knew I would say, yes.”
In honor of National Dog Day, August 26, this story is on Rusty, all the good reasons to adopt an older dog, and Muttville Senior Rescue. …
