It is difficult to understand how some dogs can be treated with such disregard, especially when they devote every part of their lives to the people they trust.
Figgy’s story is one of those moments that makes your heart drop. After years of loyalty, he was tossed aside, yet he still had love to offer anyone willing to see it.
Saved Just Before It Was Too Late
At eighteen years old, Figgy, a tiny Toy Poodle, was brought into a veterinary clinic in California. His age and condition made staff assume he was there for a checkup. Instead, his owners requested that he be euthanized.
Blind, toothless, and frail, Figgy showed clear signs of aging, but underneath all of that, he remained sweet and calm.
When the clinic staff asked why he should be put down, the owners replied, “He’s stupid.”
The team was stunned. After nearly two decades with them, Figgy was being discarded with cold indifference.
The staff quickly made up their minds. There was no way they would carry out the request.
They examined Figgy and found that while he struggled with arthritis, blindness, and the typical issues of an elderly dog, he was stable and had no condition that justified ending his life. He simply needed care, patience, and a peaceful environment.
A Soft Landing And A New Beginning
The clinic reached out to Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, a group dedicated to saving senior dogs. Their response was immediate. They agreed to take Figgy in and give him the safety he desperately needed.
Knowing he would benefit from a quiet home, founder Sherri Franklin decided to foster him herself.
“He was a total love bug and slept with me curled up in my armpit. I just loved him,” Franklin told The Dodo.
Despite everything he had endured, Figgy still trusted people. He sought affection, leaned into attention, and seemed grateful for every gentle touch.
Within only four days at Muttville, after his story spread online, Figgy met the person who would become his forever family.
Eileen, who had experience caring for hospice dogs, saw his story and immediately stepped forward. To her, Figgy was not “stupid.” He was special.
“He’ll be our fifth hospice angel,” Eileen told The Dodo.
With Eileen, Figgy found what he had been denied for so long: warmth, safety, and a soft place to grow old.
“I just couldn’t help but think that these precious angels had given their love and loyalty to someone their entire lives, and certainly didn’t deserve to die alone in a shelter. They deserved love, comfort, and security for whatever time they happened to have left, and I knew that I could provide that,” Eileen said.
Now, Figgy spends his days surrounded by comfort and kindness. After years of neglect, his final chapter is filled with the love he always deserved.