When you do rescue there are always dogs that stay with you forever and Jingles is one of those dogs.

Jingles is an 11 year-old female who lived in the house with her family for many years. After their son was born, she was forced to live outside. For the next few years Jingles spent her days and nights braving the freezing cold and extreme heat. Sometime while living this life of misery, she developed a large tumor on her hip that ulcerated leaving a gaping hole on her side.

When rescue volunteers arrived, the sight they saw was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. Here was Jingles, an aging golden alone in the yard with a large open wound. Yet through her misery, she was wagging her tail, her eyes bright as if saying, “Hi! Want to play with me?”

Now in her foster home, she is the picture of happiness, always smiling and extremely appreciative of a soft bed and a loving hand. Her foster family took these pictures of her and although you can’t help but notice the terrible wound on her hip, please look in her eyes and see the hope and gratitude on her face. To tend to her care, to make sure she is safe, to give her love and see that love reciprocated so genuinely makes what we do so rewarding.

Unfortunately, the tumor on Jingles’ hip was left unattended for so long that traditional treatment may not remedy the situation. We are currently looking into alternative methods. We expect her care to be costly but we will not turn our backs on this beautiful girl. If you could find it in your heart to help LIGRR with her treatment, we AND Jingles, would be extremely grateful.

Jingles Update

After visiting several vets we were disheartened to discover nothing could be done for Jingles. We had already fallen deeply in love with this beautiful golden retriever. She wasn’t ready to give up, so why should we? She had such spirit, such spunk. As a last resort we contacted a vet who practices alternative veterinary medicine. Much to our surprise he felt that he could successfully remove Jingles’ tumors. We scheduled surgery for the following week. Our sweet girl was in surgery for 3 hours. She came through with flying colors. Now, the wait for the lab results. It was the longest three days of our lives. We received terrific news, benign. Wow! How lucky is she?

We adopted Jingles shortly after her surgery. She is a wonderful addition to our family. She is always smiling and ready to play with one of her housemates or us. We can see it in her eyes each and every time she looks at us how truly grateful she is for having been given a new, pain free life of love. Now, instead of digging a hole in the dirt to escape the sweltering heat of summer, she slumbers on her own bed in an air-conditioned living room. Now, instead of huddling against a wall to ward off the freezing winds of winter, she curls up in front of a roaring fireplace. Now, instead of living a solitary life chained to a garage, she romps with five housemates. Her biggest problem these days is deciding which toy to choose.

Jingles and we would like to thank all of the wonderful volunteers at LIGRR for all the help and support they have given us. LIGRR has made it possible for us to enjoy many years with our wonderful golden, Jingles. We would also like to give heartfelt thanks to all of you who so generously donated to LIGRR to make Jingles’ surgery possible.

Lois and Bill Hannigan