Posted June 3, 2000

Snuggles, aka "hummingbird tail," had barely arrived into foster care when he was swiftly adopted. It was a small wonder that he was one of the darlings of the website. He was too cute for words. To look at that face and those big brown eyes was to fall in love.

At first it appeared that Snuggles' original family simply did not appreciate the precious little boy they had. They admitted, after dumping him at a Maryland shelter, that the family was the problem, not Snuggles himself. They said that they had too many children and were too involved with the kids and their sports to pay proper attention to Sunggles. So he was tossed aside like a newspaper that no one even bothered to read. Consequently, this poor little soul came to us starved for affection. I wish that had been all that was going on with him. We were able to fix that.

Sadly, it was clear soon after Snuggle's adoption that something else was wrong with him. His vet discovered that he was gravely ill with advanced kidney disease. I would prefer to think that Snuggles' former family did not know this, but somehow I doubt it, and that is probably why he was abandoned.

The adoptive family who came to love Snuggles so quickly were left to fight for his life, and in the end, they all lost. The only thing remaining is the beautiful memory of a loving little dog who came to mean so much in such a cruelly short time. Please read the words of his adoptive mother. They broke my heart, but they need to be heard.

From the time Mr. Snuggles got into our car to come home with us, we were very much in love with him. The bond grew stronger each day he was here with us. He was the sweetest little fellow I have yet to meet, and he loved us back just as much.

He would greet us at the door in a way that would make us laugh no matter what had happened that day to bring either of us down. He was just a joy to have in our home. It was as if we had made a list of what we wanted in a dog, and we got it.

The only thing missing was that he did not play with any of his toys. We had no way of knowing that there was a bomb waiting to go off in his precious little body and that he probably did not feel like playing -- although he did like to be put on a leash and run through the field with his new Dad.

Sunggles was not with us much more than two weeks when he went into renal failure. Though his doctor tried all she could to save him, it was not to be.

We wondered why we had to lose him so soon, but only God knows the answer to that. First my husband told me he believed we were meant to love him like we did because his time was so short. Then my son, who came to visit Sunggles often, told me, "I think you were meant to have him the last part of his life so he could feel all the love you had for him."

Whatever the reason, I would not trade our two weeks with him for anything. He is still at his forever home because we brought him back and buried him here, where he was happy for awhile. We will always love him and remember him for the "Special Soul" he was. To know Snuggles was to love him, and to be loved by him was a joy to hold deep in your heart for all time.

Please don't be sorry for us. We are better for the experience with Snuggles -- the part before we lost him. He brought so much laughter and joy in the time he was here, and we will always talk about the cute things he did and his Elvis grin, and we will feel sad, but at the same time happy because we had him for awhile.

We miss our friend very much!