10/26/2026
6 years ago today we lost a legend. NEVILLE was an amazing Canine Foster Daddy. He loved everyone and took such good care of his foster kitties and dogs.
He taught me how to be a Canine Foster Mommy even though I never met him. I have studied him and learned from him.
Yesterday I shared the tribute to MR PICKLES. Today I’m re-sharing NEVY’s final post to this page. Watch his tribute video. It’s full of cameos of WAFFLES and many other faces you’ll recognize.
NEVY was a wise old soul. He came from humble beginnings; a broken dog. But love and quality care made him whole, and he spent the next 12 years making a difference in the lives of others.
I aspire to be more like NEVY. He is so deeply missed.
Well everyone, this is it. My final post.
There is so much that I want to say, but not enough time or space on this page (even for Facebook) to say it, so I've asked Mommy to make me a tribute video to showcase my amazing life. How does one cram 12 fabulous years into just a few minutes? You can’t, which is why my video is 5 minutes long. But, you’ll want to watch it until the end because I’ve included lots of footage of WAFFLES and all my favorite things.
My tribute video: https://youtu.be/YHhOOG5ORl8
I know you’re all probably wondering what happened. Why now?
I’m not sick. My heart is strong and my mind is intact. On bloodwork I look like a perfectly healthy senior dog. But nonetheless my body has failed me. I can barely walk and have started falling over when I try. Sitting up in bed or even in my wagon without leaning is impossible, and turning over or getting up to get a drink of water on my own is a thing of the past. Mommy & Daddy have to bring me my food and water, flip me in my bed, pick me up to put me in my wagon or carry me outside to go potty. Often I don’t make it. Although they don’t care about that, I do. The best part of my day is going for my wagon walks, and with winter coming, soon I wouldn’t even be able to enjoy those.
Mommy and I had both hoped I could make it to December, but doing so would only be prolonging the inevitable.
I don’t want to die, but I am not afraid of death. I am 15 or 16 years old (maybe older) and since getting adopted 12 years ago I have lived the best life ever.
Over the years I have cheated death so many times you’d think I was a cat. It has taken an army of doctors to keep me going - my homeopathic vet Robin L Cannizzaro Dvm, my chiropractor and acupuncturist, Dr. Karmen Courete, Dr. Trish & Dr. Mike at Aspetuck Animal Hospital LLC, and of course sheer will on the part of my mommy & daddy.
But now I am old and broken and I can no longer be fixed.
All that’s left for me is to have a good death here on earth so I can move to heaven to be with my brother WAFFLES. Apparently his heavenly posse has grown quite large and he needs my help managing it. (On account of all my rescue experience as a Canine Foster Daddy.). So when I get there I’m going to be very busy and I won’t be alone.
I hope you will all share my story in the hopes that it inspires at least one person to go out and adopt an older dog. The dog nobody else wants. Because 12 years ago I was that dog; the forgotten dog at the shelter that nobody wanted, and I had given up all hope of ever finding a home.
Then one day a woman came to the shelter looking to adopt a dog. She didn’t care what the dog looked like or how old it was. I was shy and had a whole host of things wrong with me. Lick granulomas all over my legs and tail, GI problems, severe separation anxiety (although I kept that part a secret until after I got adopted).
I was a hot mess, but Mommy still chose me! She and Daddy loved me to the moon and back, and told me I was perfect in spite of all my issues. And because they believed in me, I began to believe in me. It certainly didn’t happen overnight, but I flourished into the dog I am today.
I have lived a great life!
Mommy works from home so I’ve been by her side for 12 years. I’m her best friend and she is mine. We have worked tirelessly together rescuing animals and I have loved every minute of being a Canine Foster Daddy to 1000+ cats and kittens and dogs and puppies. Mommy says I’m better at housebreaking dogs than she is, and I raise my kitties to love dogs as well as other cats so they’re super adoptable.
My favorite thing in the whole entire world is dirt biking with my Daddy. I haven’t been able to run for more than a year now and I miss it terribly, but before that Daddy used get out the dirt bike every day when he came home and we’d run the trails together. Back in the day I could run like the wind and it was glorious!
I’m told that in heaven my body will be restored and I’ll be able to run faster than ever. That sounds wonderful.
As for this page, well, it’s only fitting that I pass the baton to my young protege MR PICKLES. After all, PICKY was WAFFLES’ gift to Mommy after he passed away. Mommy was so sad at losing WAFFLES that he sent PICKY to her as a distraction. Mommy had no idea that PICKY would be staying forever, but I have a feeling that WAFFY knew.
PICKY is a bit nervous about running a page all by himself, but I’ve told him he’s already super popular and that people on Facebook can’t actually “touch" him so he should be okay. Just to be safe I have asked my feline sister BONNIE to help him out. BONNIE is a Facebook wiz and already has her own fan following on Mommy’s page, so you’ll probably see her popping in now and again.
Just don’t leave! WAFFLES started this page to do good work and I’ve done my best to carry on in his absence. Now it’s PICKY’s turn! I know he’s going to miss me a lot, so please send him lots of love and positive vibes so he doesn’t feel alone. (Mommy and Daddy too. They are taking this pretty hard.)
Please don’t be sad. Just because I’m gone doesn’t mean I’ve left. You can always talk to me in heaven or come visit this page to be with me and WAFFLES. We’re both still here and committed to continuing our rescue mission from heaven.
If you would like to help us, please consider a donation to our rescue group Passion 4 Paws.
Lastly, thank you for loving me and welcoming me with open arms when I took over this page for WAFFLES. He had some really big paw prints to fill and I hope I did him justice. I have loved meeting and sharing my life with all of you these past 2 1/2 years. I wish you all peace, love, health and happiness and know that when your time comes, WAFFLES and I will be waiting to greet you on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. (I can’t wait to find out if it’s really a rainbow…)
All my love forever, Neville
NOTE: Neville passed peacefully at 3:40 PM on October 26th, 2020.
Memorial donations can me made online at passion4paws.org/donate or via mail at:
Passion 4 Paws
PO Box 791
Dayville, CT 06241
