Our Hearts are breaking...

Brighton had found his perfect forever home. Sadly Brighton's time with his new family was cut suddenly short, when it was discovered that he had an aggressive form of cancer. Greg, Brighton's foster dad reported the sad news:

We are still wiping our eyes.

I amazes us that having a dog in your foster care for only a month or so can have such an impact when something bad happens after they leave your care.

Please, everyone give your dogs and foster dogs a hug for Brighton and then give each other a hug.

Here is the copy of the email that we just received from Brighton's family:

We have some very sad news... After much discussion with the doctors, Brighton was put to sleep about 8 pm this evening. After a long good-bye, Bill and I were there holding him, and it was very peaceful and quiet. He didn't suffer, and was surrounded by love. We had such a short time together and he made such an amazing impact on our whole family... He was so strong until the very end - never once showing the pain he must have been through. We'll never know what his life was like before, but Brighton will always be in our hearts; we are so thankful that the Holden's and we were able to give him a peaceful, loving last few months. He had such a wonderful, gentle nature, and gave so much to our family... He will be greatly missed. Our kids absolutely adored him and he was so patient and gentle with them. He actually settled our Gordon Setter down within a day or two of joining our family - amazing! Jura is quite unsettled now, as Brighton's been away from home since Monday morning.

We found out about lunch-time from the oncologist that the samples taken from Brighton's liver and intestine mass were a cancerous lymphoma and that there was little that could be done for him. I visited him early this morning and he seemed a bit more perky (the doctor later explained that this was from the fluids and protein he received overnight). I took him for a short walk outside to just spend time together, which was really encouraging. When the kids and I all went to visit him about 1:30, he was very lethargic, and even had to stop two times to rest to get from the back area to the front visitation rooms... His belly was quite distended and he was much worse than when I saw him in the morning. Had he been able to eat and function on his own, he might have been able to go home on prednisone, but his condition had deteriorated to where this wasn't an option.

Please know that Brighton isn't hurting anymore and was truly loved by our whole family. He leaves a huge void in our lives...

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Marty & Bill Buchan

The entire Illinois Birddog Rescue family of volunteers is mourning for Brighton and is sending their deepest Sympathy to the Buchan family.