The paperwork said euthanasia was scheduled for Friday. One more animal at a shelter that had run out of time. Sadly the older ones and the sickest ones are usually the first to go. And for this 17 year-old dog, alone in a shelter, that meant Friday.

The paperwork also said severely worn and fractured teeth with pulp exposed, ears heavily infected, swollen and too painful to touch, a 6 cm ovoid purple mass, two large SQ masses on both the left and right abdomen, pain exhibited with extension of the hips, severe alopecia, thickened skin in many places from being chronically infected, severe dental tartar, gingivitis, allergies.

Other reports said bright pink skin, multiple warts over entire body, large SQ masses left chest, abdomen, paws, severely worn teeth, numerous hematomas, fleas, multiple and serious medical issues.

You get the idea. This dog was in rough shape. And that’s why the shelter felt euthanasia was the right thing. This dog was old. He hurt. He hurt a lot. He could not hear much because his ears were swollen shut. He could not eat much because his teeth and mouth hurt. But his spirit was strong. So, so strong!

The photo shows just one of the tumors on his paw. How in the world was he able to walk with that? How badly must it have hurt him? And that was only one of them.

Yet there he was battling through the pain to fight for another day. Because that’s all he had left.

But on Thursday his Friday changed. Because that dog was Scooby. It was three years ago and he was 17 years-old then. And instead of the Friday that was planned, we adopted each other on Thursday.

To all the rescuers and the saviors and the people that show up and stand up for the animals, thank you! You know how great this feels. Every day all of you do so much to help. You do it because you care.

And you know what a true honor it is to be the one that has the chance to make that difference. For me, on that day, I had the honor of saving Scooby.

We do it one at a time. And we do it with the hope and prayers that maybe someday we really will be able to save them all. Just like Scooby. Because the truth is, there’s a little Scooby in all of us.

This Sunday August 31st Scooby will celebrate his 20th birthday. In honor of this special day all donations to The Pongo Fund will be matched 100%. Donations last week, this week and next week too.

Every one of them will be matched up to $25,000. And that money will be used to restock our pet food bank where the dog and cat food shelves have gotten quite empty and winter is coming.

To kick off the donation celebration Scooby has donated $21 from his own Treat Fund. That’s one dollar for each year and one more to grow on. Maybe you’d like to be part of Scooby’s 21 Club?

But no matter what and if nothing else, please always send good wishes to all of the animals. May each and every one of them continue to be safe and happy and well. Wherever they are, may they always be loved.

Thank you for being there for them. Thank you for caring about them. Thank you for saving them.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. thepongofund.org