Claire of Blind Dog Rescue -- before
Clair of Blind Dog Rescue — before

Tissue gathering alert.

Today I’d like to make it clear that Frankie’s Fund isn’t about Frankie, except insofar I want to keep his memory alive. My little guy had a great life — and a great death.  Things are not so sanguine for some seniors who are considered unadoptable and who face their final exits in a shelter, terrified and confused — until, that is, they come to the attention of groups that the Grey Muzzle Organization helps.

And Grey Muzzle is the recipient of your donations to Frankie’s Fund.

Here, in the words of Grey Muzzle, are the stories of four dogs saved by some 2013 grantee organizations, dogs given loving foster homes where they could live out the rest of their years — or in one case, days.

Which is the mandate of Frankie’s Fund.

Old Dog Haven

Hank Old Dog Haven
Hank of Old Dog Haven

Hank was 15 years old when he made it to one of our grantees, Old Dog Haven [Editor’s note: You’ve got to love a group that proclaims on its masthead “God rest ye hairy gentleman/you have a home today”].  We help fund their Death with Dignity Program.  Hank was dropped off by his owner and was obviously neglected and flea infested.  He had the worst mouth the staff had ever seen.  He also suffered from dementia.  He was placed in a foster home with the care and pain relief he needed and died a peaceful death in a loving home.

Amos Old Dog Haven
Amos of Old Dog Haven

Amos is another senior dog who made his way to Old Dog Haven this year. He was brought in as a stray or runaway, but that is unlikely as he could barely move his back two legs and could only walk a few steps. He had disc disease and brain cancer was found. He lived for five more days with a foster family and passed away knowing he was finally loved.

Blind Dog Rescue Alliance

Clair is a 14-year-old Chihuahua that came to our grantee Blind Dog Rescue Alliance in October.  She is a sanctuary dog and will never leave her foster home as she is in their long-term foster and hospice program we fund.  Claire came to them with a severe case of Demox mange, moderate renal failure, arthritis, one tooth and severe eye infections (see before picture, above). 

Clair -- after
Clair of Blind Dog Rescue — after

She is on a special diet, getting the care she needs and her hair is growing back.  Claire will begin laser therapy to help with her arthritis.

Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas

Tess golden retriever rescue
Tess of Golden Retriever Rescue

Tess, an 11-year-old Golden, is being helped and fostered by our grantee Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas.  We help fund their Senior Permanent Foster Program which pays for medical bills for senior dogs that are unadoptable, but deserve to be in permanent foster homes for the rest of their life. 

How Can I Help, You Ask?

By donating to Frankie’s Fund, of course. The organizations highlighted here may or may not be those to which your contributions find their way in 2014 — grantees will be chosen in January — but you can be assured that work of similar humanitarian — caninitarian? — quality will be accomplished by them, that your money will go towards helping seniors considered unadoptable find a final foster home.

So… head over to Grey Muzzle’s donation page and keep scrolling down past the Payment Information section until you get to the box with the header “If you have a special purpose for your donation, please let us know” and enter “Frankie’s Fund” in the slot under “I want my donation to be dedicated:”

My email address, to be put in the slot that asks for it, is writestf at me.com

And then be sure to check the box to the right that says “Please send an acknowledgement to the individual or organization to whom I am dedicating my donation.” If you don’t want me to make your name public, I won’t. And I will never post the amount of the donation. But I need to able to tabulate and showcase the donations total (see the thermometer, to your right; donations have been great but there’s still a way to go to reach the goal of $5,000 by the end of the year).

I thank you. And so do the sweet oldsters who are getting a second chance for love and a great sendoff, maybe not as splashy as the one Frankie had, but beautiful nevertheless.

Frankie for blog-004

 

 

 

11 thoughts on “The Faces of Frankie’s Fund: Pups Helped by Grey Muzzle Grantees”

    1. The at = @ and the spaces get closed up. It’s a pretty common convention to prevent people from just clicking and emailing me directly — sorry if it’s confusing here, though. You’re not the first to question it. I’ve been trying to think of a way around that.

    1. Well, that’s what your donation to Frankie’s Fund was for — people who are in a good position to do this type of caretaking. When the time comes and you’re up for it, then that’s always an option. Sadly, there are always a lot of seniors of all breeds who need loving care.

  1. Wow! This is great thing you are doing–helping the dogs, of course, but also raising awareness, mine for example, that, of course (duh!) dogs just like people deserve to have a good life and a good death which, after all, is part of life. What a wonderful mitzvah to adopt or foster a dog just in order to help them exit this life peacefully, pain free, comfortable, and cared for. Wow! Absolutely, totally Wow! I’m heading back to Grey Muzzle. I want you to reach your goal!

    1. Wow back — that is SO nice on all counts, Deborah, i.e., that I raised awareness of the issue and that you’re donating again. I so appreciate it.

  2. I really like the seniors, have two in “hospice” care now. No fosters (the two foster homes I had each adopted their fosters this year) but all here in an open pack in my home – 16 currently, all ages, sizes, genders, but mostly hounds. I love Frankie’s Fund and will be donating (( promise!).

    1. Oh, Roberta, only if you can afford to! I was thinking that you should apply for a grant to Grey Muzzle to help get financing for the many seniors you care for in hospice.

  3. We recently had to put down our Irish Wolfhound mix, Hobo. He too had gotetn old, had cataracs in both eyes, and seldom went out except to do his business. One morning he just couldn’t stand up, so we knew it was time. But he was a good dog, and we were lucky he came to live with us. I felt better knowing he was around guarding my wife when I was gone for months at a time.

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