Photos: Dying Shelter Dog Heads to New Home Sunday

NORTH FORK, NY — Tears of joy were flowing Sunday as Holly, a dying shelter dog who has only a few months to live, headed to her forever 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 where Holly can live out her last days knowing, for the first time, the joy of a family of her own.

In astory that touched countless hearts, a Massachusetts teacher, miles from the North Fork, read Holly's story and reached out to offer her a warm haven.

On Sunday, Stroup was overjoyed to report that Holly had begun her journey home. "I'm excited for Janine to meet Holly. When doing these long distance adoptions it's always nerve-wracking since they have never met. Like a blind date, we just hope it's a match."

But Mullaney knew from the first 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."

She also posted on Facebook that her students are learning about empathy, "which ends up being a whole lot more than just putting yourself in someone else's shoes. A big part of it is regulating your own emotions and sometimes just putting your feelings aside altogether. Holly challenged me to do this."

On Saturday, she wrote, "I'll be meeting Holly tomorrow and taking her home. She needs a family during the darkest days of her life, that's what I'd want. I'm not sure what Holly will be like and she's not sure of me either, but I'm confident about one thing: That we will love each other until her very last moments."

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, 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 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."

Patch photos courtesy of Gabrielle Stroup.