Jose Miguel Santiago loves animals. His shelter—Maricopa County Animal Care and Control—takes in strays and unwanted animals and attempts to rehome them. Unfortunately for the star of this video, Vick, getting a new home just isn't in the cards.
Vick came to the shelter last May, and the whole team there fell in love with him. So you would think that finding him a good home would be uppermost in their minds. But making him happy where he is seems to be the priority for the folks at the shelter. Why? Because Vick's days are numbered.
Debrah Wood-Lafave, a shelter staffer admits, "He's such a love, he's such a nice dog, he's got such a soft face. I fell in love with him right away. He's very easy to take care of."
So why are his days numbered? Vick has aggressive skin cancer. Although he's undergone two surgeries, his disease has advanced to the terminal stage. Short of a miracle, Vick won't recover.
Santiago decided to create a bucket list for Vick and to fulfill it so his final days will be happy ones. Santiago posted on his Facebook page and within the hour he had responses from people who wanted to help. "We want him to know that he's not just another animal at the shelter, that he's a part of the whole shelter family," Santiago said.
People immediately responded to the post. One company provided a spa day, another gave Vick a steak dinner, and the help just kept rolling in. Although the staff will be very sad when Vick's time is gone, they wanted to be sure that those final days were happy ones.
Lot's of people make bucket lists, but not many make them for their dogs. How about you? Does your dog have a bucket list? With the uncertainty of life, perhaps it's a good idea to start one, and get right on fulfilling it. After all, you never know what tomorrow will bring. Let us know in the comments what's on your pet's list!