Woman Adopts Dying Dog, Takes Him On Epic Bucket List Adventure

A simple decision a Georgia woman made a couple weeks ago has changed a dog’s life and touched the entire internet.

Nicole Elliot saw a post about an elderly, terminally ill dog needing hospice care for his remaining days and was moved to act. She contacted Animal Ark Rescue — the group that saved him from death at the high-kill shelter where his owner’s dropped him off — and adopted the pup. She decided to bring as much happiness to “Chester” as she possibly could for his remaining days, so she started a Facebook page at the end of June called “Chester’s Final Journey” to document their adventures and crowd-source ideas.

It really took off.

So far Chester has been on a shopping spree for treats, ridden in a car with the windows down, taken an oatmeal bath, and eaten a famous Nathan’s hot dog. On July 2nd she posted an update to the page about how thrilled she was about all of the support. She had reached 885 fans. Today, less than a week later, she has 32,000.

All of the press she’s getting for Chester is doing wonders to bring awareness to groups that rescue elderly sick pets from high-kill shelters. Animal Ark Rescue has plenty of pets in need of adoption, as do many other rescue organizations around the country.

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Elliot’s last post to the page was yesterday when she informed her followers that Chester wasn’t “feeling his best” and had to go to the vet. Hopefully they will get more time together and she can bring him a little more happiness. But even if they don’t — Elliot’s decision to adopt an unlikely pick has probably inspired someone out there to do the same. Hospice adoption for elderly pets in shelters is such a wonderful idea. And everyone will hug their loved, older pet a little tighter at the thought of a family abandoning theirs in the last days of its life.