ORLANDO, Fla. — For pooches and the people who love them, one of life’s great injustices is that dogs grow old too soon. A 7-year-old is already a “senior.”
Thousands of them languish in animal shelters across the country, passed over by humans fixated on the young and cute. Laura Coffey — writer, editor and producer — finds it heartbreaking.
“These dogs should be treated with kindness at the end of their lives,” says Coffey, author of the recently published book “My Old Dog: Rescued Pets With Remarkable Second Acts.” “When you adopt one, it’s a relief for everyone. It’s a relief for the dog to be in a home. And it’s a relief for the person because you know you’re doing something good.”
Cullen, a 10-year-old black Lab adopted by a Chuluota, Fla., woman, had been trained as a service dog by Canine Companions for Independence and spent years serving an Orlando, Fla., polio survivor — until he could no longer pull her wheelchair. But in his new home, he has flourished, working as a therapy dog at Nemours Children’s Hospital and getting to visit his former owner.
“It was this awesome scenario,” Coffey says. “He loves his new job.”
Coffey, who has two senior dogs, stumbled onto this subject in 2013 when she did a story for Today.com on Lori Fusaro, a Los Angeles photographer who was then volunteering to photograph shelter dogs. Fusaro’s portraits aimed to show more of a dog’s personality than the standard mutt mug shot, but she was troubled that so many older shelter residents still seemed destined to spend their final days alone, facing the likely prospect of being euthanized. She ended up taking one home: a 16-year-old pit bull named Shady, who had cancer.
She changed the dog’s name to Sunny, got her some veterinary care — nothing heroic, Fusaro says — and watched Sunny live joyously for nearly three more years.
“Sunny showed her love for me every single time I came into the room,” Fusaro says. “It’s like she knew I rescued her from early death.”
Coffey’s story went viral. Three publishers wanted a book with Coffey’s prose and Fusaro’s portraits.
The book includes a resource guide of nonprofit agencies that help senior dogs, including rescue groups. But Coffey’s main mission is to help people see how an old dog can love anew.
“And when it comes time to say goodbye, there’s something about having given them a safe and happy final chapter that softens the hardest part,” she says.
