Gertie was rescued by Beagle Rescue Education and Welfare Midwest (BREW Midwest) and brought to my husband and me to foster.  She was skinny, dirty, smelly, and had a real attitude problem.  She had an ear infection, several sores on the outside of her ears, and would not let me touch her. We nicknamed her "Devil Dog".  Within a week she settled in, calmed down and allowed us to treat her injuries and infection.



Gertie was with us for one year.  In that year we watched her blossom from "Devil Dog" to one of the sweetest little beagles I have ever had the pleasure of taking care of.  She developed the most beautiful smile whenever someone talked to her (like "I can't believe someone actually wants to speak to me").  She learned to do a little sway for treats.



Gertie was to be adopted today (8/5) by a wonderful retired dentist in Illinois.  I took her to the vet on 7/29 for a check up and to update her shots.  The vet ran a CBC on her and found that her white cell count was really high.  She went back in on Tuesday (8/2) for a recheck and we found out that her spleen was grossly enlarged and that she would need emergency surgery to remove the spleen.



Gertie made it through the surgery, but quietly slipped away during the night to the Rainbow Bridge.  She knew what we didn't, she had already found her Forever Home and it was located in Madison, OH and not in Illinois.



She will be greatly missed.  Her ashes have a special place on our mantle, and her collar is hanging on our wall as a reminder of why we foster.  She spent the last year of her life being the pampered pet she should have been for the first 10+ years of her life.