Is There Room In Your Home And Heart For These BFF Elderly Dogs?

PALS East Bay, a group founded to rescue homeless pets from East Bay shelters, is asking for the public’s help in finding a foster home to provide hospice care for two older dogs in the Oakland Animal Shelter.

Monty, a lab mix, has early cancer. But Monty has spent his whole life with a German shepherd named Brownie, and PALS East Bay hopes to find a loving home to take both dogs, according to spokeswoman Nicole Perelman.

“Alright team--this is getting serious and we need your help,” the organization wrote on its Facebook page. “Monty and Brownie have been sitting in the Oakland shelter way too long.”

PALS was founded several months ago by Dr. Maria Steelman, a pediatrician from Lafayette. Steelman found that many of the dogs surrendered to shelter are older and often have significant health issues like cancer, according to Perelman.

Steelman set up the Rainbow Bridge Fund to help these dogs, and began finding foster homes that could provide foster care for elderly dogs with cancer. One of those homes belonged to Dr. Maria Rivero, a gerontologist from San Francisco.

So far PALS East Bay has helped at least two aging dogs with inoperable cancer, one of whom passed away earlier this month, enjoy their last days in comfort. Steelman hopes that others will open up their homes to elderly dogs in need of hospice care.

“Asking anyone to foster a bonded pair is a big ask,” the organization said. “But we need to keep asking as no one has stepped forward yet to take these two. We wouldn’t be opposed to paying to have them sent outside the Bay Area either for the right situation. And, of course, PALS will pay for their vet care from our Rainbow Bridge Fund. So please spread the word as much as you can. We know we can do this!”

To find out more about Monty and Brownie, call Nicole Perelman at (415) 385-2283 or go to www.palseastbay.com.

You can also contact PALS East Bay via email at palseastbay@gmail.com.

--Bay City News contributed to this report

Also on Patch:

• Boy, 11, Stabbed By Schoolmate, 13, In Martinez School Locker Room
• Chabot Space Center Cuts Admission Rates For Some Low-Income Families
• Statewide Revamping Of Automatic Residency Restrictions For Paroled Sex Offenders Underway
• San Francisco Youth Take On Unlikely Topic In Rap Video: Sewers!