Meet Xena.
Xena was a cuddly, smiley pitbull/lovebug who came to Holbrook’s animal shelter back in June of 2017. Xena arrived with an enormous mammary mass. The vet examined her and shared the bad news: Xena had 6 months, tops.
The bad news and bad prognosis didn’t stop the Friends of the Holbrook Animal Shelter. Our Friends board became her fan club and shared Xena’s story to start raising money –enough to have the mammary tumors removed! One of our awesome volunteers, Sarah, took her home to have a quiet, relaxing place to recover from her surgery. Well, Xena won her foster mom’s heart and stayed there the rest of her life, which ended up being way longer than those 6 months that were projected.
Dogs like Xena are the reason we, the Shelter Friends, often need additional fundraising. In the past, before our non-profit/partner group formed, dogs like Xena had NO chance at surviving…unless someone adopted them and took over the cost of their care. Through our grant funding and, most of all, our generous community donations, the Friends of the Holbrook Animal Shelter can finance emergency medical care for sick and injured stray or surrendered animals. It’s our proudest accomplishment, to save an extraordinary amount of pets’ lives.
Xena became our organization’s unofficial mascot. She was so spunky and sweet, and of course a bit naughty too! Once she tore up an entire book but she looked so guilty and cute when she got busted. She would often disappear because she was so friendly, she’d jump into anyone’s car for a ride, but she always made it back home.
The cancer came back, as cancer often does. Xena had another lump removed about two and a half years after her first surgery, extending her life another 6 months — a total of 3 more years after her initial deathly diagnosis. She had a wonderful life after we rescued her, especially with her loving foster family. We all cherished her sweetness. Love you always, Xena.
Leave a comment