It is with sad hearts that we share the passing of our dog “Casey” – our JRT. She passed away Saturday night, May 19, 2012 in our home. She was 14 years old.  We didn’t want her to suffer.  She had been thru so much.  Here’s her story…

We adopted Casey from St. Hubert’s  Animal Welfare Center in Madison, NJ in late June of 2003. She was surrendered by a family who could no longer care for her – they just didn’t have time for her.  St. Hubert’s figured she was about five then.   I did some volunteer work for St. Hubert’s and during a visit one Saturday, my husband Paul and I saw her in one of the kennels.  We knew right away we wanted to bring her home.  “Get on the list” the woman at the front desk said.  “Everyone is interested in Casey.”  I casually mentioned that I did special events volunteering for St. Hubert’s and dropped a few names of folks I knew in the organization.  As luck would have it, I got a phone call the following Tuesday, “If you are still interested in Casey, you can come and take her home.”  I couldn’t get to her fast enough.  She came home with me and was part of the family instantaneously.

Casey was a great dog who protected our son Christopher from the first day we brought him home on March 18, 2004. Casey followed Paul everywhere (we called her his white shadow). When we moved to CT in March of 2006 and I started working 100 percent of the time out of our home, she sat in my home office with me every single day. She was a faithful companion who cohabitated with our cats “Bernie” and “Willow” (rescues as well)  — not an easy thing to do for a Jack Russell.

After being diagnosed with a tumor on her lung in 2010, she went thru surgery to have the tumor removed. The tumor was inoperable.  Not knowing how much longer we had, we did everything to make her comfortable.  We even planned all our vacations with her in mind and if we couldn’t take her with us we had my Dad came up from Florida to house sit.  She even spent a few nights at the Vet’s home.  She was loved by so many people and she loved us back 1000 times.  She was funny and had many of the typical JRT characteristics.  She loved to jump and run and chase the tennis ball. She slept under the covers of our bed.  She had a big dog attitude in a small body.  She loved her belly rubbed.  She made us laugh.

Casey was a very special member of our family. We have so many happy memories of her.   We miss her so much.  I cry every day.

— Paula from Glastonbury, CT