In Memory of Toby
1996 -July 2006

It is with incredible sadness that I write to let you know our Toby (FBRN grad, August '04) passed away this past Friday from liver failure. Toby was 10, his decline quick and harrowing for us. We were lucky to have Toby in our lives exactly two years. He came to Cassy Peterson and FBRN as a former show dog, who when retired from the ring was relegated to living in a concrete kennel outside (in the heat of NC summers), his allergies and infections ignored. He weighed 18 lbs. (nine lbs. underweight), had a perforated eye, deaf from ear infections, scabs and sores over his entire body. Without FBRN, Toby would certainly have died within days. He was pitiful, truly. Our family fostered him, nursed him back to health and fell in love with his sweet, gentle soul. My husband, Tom was just mad for him. I applied to adopt him and "gave" Toby as a 50th birthday gift to Tom. I've never seen him so happy for a present, ever.

Toby has had many health issues throughout these past two years, and was dog aggressive to any dogs other than our pug, Sister and our Frenchie, Sophie. But we felt so privileged to have him with us and made sure he knew how much he was loved. We hope we erased some of the pain from his former life. Rescue has given us so much more than we could ever give in return. I had planned to bring Toby to Nationals in Gatlinburg this August, and so wanted him to meet many of his friends who had cared about him and rallied for him during his foster days. You would have loved this old gentleman.
Sandy