No Greater Gift

Volume 2 Issue 1
April 1, 2008
Author: Nancy Bocian

I didn't recognize the number on my caller ID, but I was acquainted with the caller's soft Alabama accent. "How's my boy doing?" It was Lou, my rescue dog Garrett's foster mother, checking in with me. I like to think of Lou as Garrett's birth mother. From the day he was bailed out of a shelter, hours from being euthanized, until he came to me, Lou was an essential part of Garrett's journey. She took him in when he had no home. She fed him, gave him his medicine, and most importantly helped him to feel loved. So when I first greeted him, he came to me with a wag of his tail and a light in his eyes.

Lou is one of many volunteer fosters who are the mainstay of Sunshine Golden Retriever Rescue (SGRR) and its Alabama sister organization, J & L Golden Rescue. Without these fosters, there would be no rescue. Previously abused, neglected or rejected dogs are welcomed into the homes of volunteers who prepare these dogs for new lives. Every new owner who waits with leash in hand for his "forever" dog has a foster to thank.

Although some of SGRR's dogs come from New England, most of their rescues come from high kill shelters in the South where, without rescue, they would face certain death. Martha and Lisa H., founders of J & L Golden Rescue, travel from shelter to shelter picking up Goldens and golden mixes who are then taken to the veterinarian for necessary medical care. After being treated by veterinarians, the dogs go to one of the five foster homes in Alabama or are carried on an air-conditioned, USDA-approved transport to New England to join one of over twenty-five foster families. These fosters are the observers, nurturers, healers and trainers of their precious charges. It is because of them that SGRR has saved the lives of over 400 dogs since March 2005.

Who are these fosters? People who, for no monetary compensation, have dog crates in their kitchens and four dog beds in their bedrooms, who have strange dogs others would consider "damaged goods" snoozing on their couches, and who grow to love these dogs only to have to say goodbye to them.

They are as varied as the dogs they take in. One is a medical student, one a systems analyst. Another is a guidance counselor while yet another works in insurance. What they have in common is much more important than what they don't. They all share extraordinary compassion, patience, and the desire to make a difference. They are people who laugh when they tell of holes dug in gardens, sirloin steaks stolen from counters, or pillows that have been shredded. Instead of complaining, they speak of their dogs with affection and respect: the goofball, the shy one, the couch potato. And each tells of the joy in transforming the lives of these dogs...