"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where
they went." - Will Rogers

Click photos for details.

Poppy Hayes
(2001-2008)

Blaze Spevak  (1997-2008)
(click on image)

It is with real sadness that I write to tell you that Nicholas crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Friday, Feb 27. As near as we can tell, he was 14 years old. He was raised to be a coyote hunter, and when his owner had no more use of him, he tied Nick to a telephone pole in the Mojave Dessert and left him to die. When Bernadette and I visited your home to say that we wanted to rescue one of your charges, Alberto walked out of the kennel room with Nick on a leash and announced the this was the perfect dog for us. On Dec 27, 2000 we took Nick home. He entered our house, spied a green leather couch and claimed it as his own; it remained that way for the rest of his life. In the last few months, Nick grew frail with age and was diagnosed with heart tumors and fluid in his lungs. I brought him home, but by the end of a month, it was time to give him our final gesture of love, and he died peacefully in my arms.

I have above attached a photo of me with Nick and one of my Dalmatians. It was taken right about the time of his diagnosis, and you can see by his crouch, that his rear legs were losing their ability to hold him up.

Because of you and your good work, Nick enjoyed eight years of a life he could not have imagined. Thank you for that and for eight wonderful years that Bernadette could not have imagined.

Andy & Bernadette O'Hara