Best Dog Ever

We adopted Athens (your name: Steel-Bowl Dog) from your organization back in August 2004 at the Florida State Fairgrounds; he was approx. 2 yo, 28 lbs. and had a host of problems including ring worm, bad bronchial infection, severely malnourished, and loss of hair. But I knew immediately when he came up and turned around and sat in my lap that this was the dog for us. My wife came later, and the event was about to close down, and he did the same to her so we decided to adopt Athens from you hoping for the best. He completely changed our lives and immediately went from 28 lbs to 48 lbs in 14 days and ended up staying at this weight the remainder of his life. He quickly regained his health and was a "tank" of dog for the 9.5 years, well trained and behaved. He went everywhere with us, including living in Tampa, FL; Frederick, MD; Portland, OR; and finally in Phoenix, AZ. He got the best of everything and he gave us back unconditional love and affection. He was stubborn and
tough at times, but I always admired how he stood up for himself. We didn't realize at the time he was a pit/staffy mix, and now after volunteering with various local rescues and having Athens all these years realize how special and unique pit and pix-mixes truly are and we would never adopt another breed. Unfortunately this week we had to put Athens to sleep after a 6-month illness (Cushings Disease and brain tumor), but just wanted your staff to know your small act of kindness of saving him from the Hillsborough County Shelter forever changed our lives. Luckily about 1.5 years ago we finally found another dog that Athens accepted, again an adult rescue pit-mix (Copper) from a local rescue group who gave him companionship in his later years (yes male-male pit mixes can get along). So your small act of kindness, seeing him with the bowl in his mouth at the shelter and deciding to give him a chance, gave us 10 years of happiness. We are going to make a donation to your
organization in the name of Athens so you can continue doing the great work you do saving dogs that deserve a second chance. Attached are some pics of this beautiful dog, first pic is of Athens at the adoption event at 28 lbs. BTW--he never lost the oral fixation (as shown holding onto the rawhide bone when we adopted him), always carried things in his mouth and could chew up any toy, including so-call indestructible toys, in less than 20 minutes. Second and third pics are him just enjoying life which he did everyday to the fullest.