Sad or happy?

The comments on the last post about Fritz, both here and on Facebook, ran the gamut from happy, sad, and mad.  Many of them expressed a combination of those emotions.  Any decent human being would be angry and upset about seeing dogs in that condition.  But everyone loves a happy, feel good ending too.  I don't usually watch sad animal movies, but if I do, I want to know in advance that everything works out well in the end.  It doesn't spoil the ending for me, it's just the only way I can make it through.
 

In rescue work we don't often know about the happy endings.  We do our best to ensure that they happen by screening adopters and using our best judgment about whether they can and will provide that dog will a full and happy life, regardless of how long it is.  With every adoption, I kiss the dog on the head and send them on their way, hoping for the best.  Some folks keep in touch and that is wonderful.   We wish all the news was good news, but of course that's not always the case.


Yesterday an email came to Animal Connections about a former foster that I had adopted to someone 11.5 years ago.  I think we've been doing this for about 12 years, so Sundance must have been one of the earliest fosters.  I vaguely remember the name, but not much else.  Apparently the dog had been born at the Fluvanna shelter and had then been with me as a foster for a few months.
 

The adopter had written to inform us of the dog's passing and that's always a sad occasion for an email.  I felt bad for the adopter, her loss was much closer and more personal.  But for myself, I felt far more joy than sorrow.  As I said when I replied to her this morning, giving a dog a full and happy life for 11.5 years really is something to celebrate.  Sundance was a puppy when he was adopted, so really all that dog knew was a brief time in foster care and then a long and happy life with a constant and caring home.  That's what we hope and wish for all our dogs, that's good news.
 

I don't have any pics of Sundance, so I've just gone through the blog files and posted several "happily ever after" pics, selected more or less at random.  [Update, see final pic, below.]

This is Sundance, or Sunny.  He had a brother we called Butch, so they were Butch and Sundance.
The adopter chose Sunny because he was the one most in need of a home. 
Look at that kind face, and you can be sure that her kindness was repaid many times over.