TRIBUTES: Bosely

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Dear BRLA. I am sadden to say the old boxer Bosely aka Moses has passed on. His old crippled body is now new in his spirit life. I would like to tell his story and hope to encourage others to adopt or foster more boxer seniors or special needs. Some of your volunteers know me and my partners and our store A Paw-fect World. We are a natural holistic store and sometimes do adoption fairs to promote our store. We do rescue on our own. We also try to help BRLA raise money which they are always in need. We were doing an adoption fair 2 1/2 years ago and having a raffle for BRLA so we arranged to have our tent next to BRLA which we do when we can. Sara a volunteer was told to bring young boxers of different colors to this event and she pulled out a fawn boxer who was older to come to this event.Of course he was not looked at very much since he had a limp and was boxer gray around the muzzle. We had a huskie X dog we found and brought to the fair because a family was interested in her. After watching Moses tied up to a chair stealing cookies all day I told Dana if the people coming to look at the huskie want her we will take the boxer home. Well at the end of the day I was helping an old boxer into my car. He looked sad and confused at home that day but my 2 boxers and bully welcomed him.

The next day I made an appointment for him with my vet. Dana had told me they did not know what was wrong with him since BRLA never has enough funds for medical care for all the dogs they take in and the older ones have to wait, The best they can do is give them shelter and love and pray for more donations. They had very little history on him.He came from the shelter after being picked off the streets and had been at BRLA for 1 year. The volunteers at BRLA really care about their boxers especially the old ones since they are always passed over by adopters looking for younger dogs.

At the vets I had them do everything. He got x-rays,blood work, teeth cleaning and extractions. He had severe hip dysplasia which was none operable because of his age and the damage. he had spondylosis, damaged cornea ,torn ear and lip from a dog fight probably done 2 years ago before he came to BRLA. The worst news but good for his hip dysplasia pain, he had degenerative myelopathy ,DM. This is a disease where the nerves start to die, beginning with the rear legs and working it's way up the body until the dog cannot move. There is no cure for it but we certainly were going to try slowing the process down. There is no medication so we did a holistic approach, through diet, exercise, homeopathy,herbs and vitamins and supplements. My vet was always amazed when he saw him, the fact he was still alive.

I will be honest it was not easy caring for him this last year. He had a wheelchair when he could stand but did not like it. He was content staying inside and sleeping on his bed.He always came to the shop with the other dogs in the house and had a special place where customers could see him and greet him. The last 6 months was very difficult for us, We had to help him urinate and defecate and had to hold his food bowl for him and water bowl.The last 2 months we had to leave him at home because it was difficult for him to move and so many customers asked about him.His old mug was dearly missed at the shop. Just him being in the shop made our customers put money in our donation box for our rescues and other rescues. In honor of our brave Bosley I told him we would put up a special donation box until Christmas for the boxers at BRLA. We have customers already asking if they can make a donation for Bos for his boxer brother and sisters at BRLA..

Even though it was time consuming and hard work taking care of him we would do it all over for him. He was worth it. I always felt so good knowing how much he appreciated and loved us for helping him. We never let him know how difficult it was to care for him. We have always said he was not a burden but he was a good burden. Thank you at BRLA for saving his life and allowing us to share our life with him.



Susan,Audrey,Liana and the many hearts he has touched in the last 2 1/2 years.