Dying Shelter Dog Finds Loving Home To Live Out Last Days

PECONIC, NY — Holly, a sweet, loving shelter dog who has only months to live, has found her happy ending — she'll spend her last days on earth in a warm, loving home.

Gabrielle Stroup of the North Fork Animal Welfare League took to the internet recently, launching an appeal on Facebook to try and find a home for Holly.

Miles from the North Fork, Janine Mullaney, a Massachusetts teachers, knew she'd found her dog.

"I don't think I even finished reading Holly's story before I decided to volunteer to take her in," Mullaney told Patch. "It just doesn't make sense for her to die in a shelter when I have a home and a big, comfy bed for her."

Stroup was overjoyed when Mullaney reached out.

"I am just thrilled that social media has again helped a needy dog," she wrote. "I am very glad to have her live her live what time she has left in a home."

Holly and her new mom will be united for the first time on Sunday, Stroup said.

Holly, Stroup said, is a cuddler who enjoys belly rubs on the couch and affection.

Sadly, Holly got bad news when a biopsy of masses revealed that one was osteosarcoma, a locally invasive tumor that's infiltrative, with frequent recurrence at the surgical site, rapidly metastasizing to the lungs or lymph nodes.

In a race against time, Stroup set out to find a loving home where the gentle girl could live out her last days surrounded by the warmth of a family of her own.

"I need to find a quiet home, preferably with no other animals, so Holly can live out however long she has left out of the shelter," Stroup wrote on Facebook. "The average post-surgical survival time is 90 days."

While Stroup said the aim was to investigate alternative treatments to see if Holly could be kept comfortable for a longer time, her mission was to find Holly a place of her own, where she can "know love, and sleep in a home."

Stroup thanked the many who donated to help Holly in past weeks; a GoFundMe was set up to help the dog, only five years old, with a shot at life. So far, the GoFundMe page, "Holly Needs Us!" has raised $2,100 of its $2,000 goal.

Reflecting on Holly's heartbreaking outcome, Stroup said, "It's just so sad. I assumed once we removed the masses she would have many years. But the vet today said not a year, probably months."

However short, Holly's last days will now be meaningful, as she heads off to Massachusetts to her new life.

Of Holly, Stroup reflected," She has a ton of love to give."