With his signature limp, and loving eyes that are going a little murky, “Bob” the 17-year-old wonder dog set out Friday to make life better for rescued animals.
Bob is also a rescue animal.
“He was very tiny. Very bad shape,” recalled his owner Tracy Duggan, who lives in Nanaimo.
The once skinny puppy has lived a long, happy life with Duggan since then.
“He has been my heart forever,” said Duggan.
“He’s just my best friend.”
The duo has a goal of raising $1,700 through GoFundMe for the Flying Fur Small Animal Rescue in Parksville. To raise the money, Bob and Duggan are doing 17 laps.
Duggan was inspired by 101-year-old John Hillman who completed 101 laps around his retirement home, Carleton House in Oak Bay, to raise $101,000 for the Children Canada’s COVID-19 Relief Fund. Hillman surpassed his goal.
“Bob wants to do it,” said Duggan.
“He looks a little sleepy right now but he loves to go for his morning walk,” she said.
Bob and Duggan will do one lap per day, one for how many years Bob has lived, around Nanaimo’s Harry Whipper Park.
“Oh I was just so thrilled,” said Leah Moore of Flying Fur Animal Rescue after hearing about the initiative.
“Like it’s been really hard on rescues with the pandemic because we can’t fundraise the normal way we would.
Moore is still giving out pet food to struggling families so they can keep their pets through the pandemic and caring for 50 abandoned animals, including a rabbit she’s named Daisy that was just found in a cage and left in a Courtenay dumpster last month.
“She takes in animals that nobody else wants,” said Duggan.
To support Bob’s walk for Flying Fur Animal Rescue, donations can be made through GoFundMe, e-transfer to Flying Fur Animal Rescue at 250-618-3802 or to Mahalo Veterinary Clinic in Nanaimo in support of the vet care Flying Fur’s animals receive.
As for Bob, he’ll keep stopping to smell the flowers and enjoying this time with his best friend.
Skye Ryan
