Pet Friendly Transportation and the Story of Luna

Luna, a 5th generation purebred cocker spaniel, was adopted by Carole about 6 years ago from the Humane Society in Sedona. Luna was 8 years old.

Luna had been trained as a therapy dog so the first few years that Carole had Luna, she took Luna to Kachina Point. There, Luna made many friends and comforted many people.  Carole says “whenever I took Luna to the grocery store or any store, Luna would seek out the person that was hurting, whether a child or an adult.”  Carole says “Luna had a keen intuition when it came to human emotions.” Carole’s face glows as she talks about her precious Luna.

When Carole was no longer able to drive, she called on transportation assistance from Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition (VVCC). She was pleased that VVCC volunteers welcomed Luna to ride along. “Other people would complain and say ‘Oh, I don’t want dog hair in my car’ and I just did not have to worry about that with VVCC. Luna could go with me anytime. It made my life easier.” 

Luna passed away in January, 2019. VVCC volunteers took Carole to the Mingus Pet Crematory in Cottonwood a couple of times to help in the healing process.  For that, Carole is extremely appreciative. Carole is taking classes at the Arizona Humane Society because she wants to help out in some way. Perhaps she will get another dog, but right now she does not feel ready.

Karen and Scott of Cornville owned a scruffy, chubby pet by the name of Moose, a bassett hound, who provided lots of cuddles and love to this couple.  We transported Karen, Scott and Moose to the vet a few times for surgery, post-op check ups and, of course, to purchase dog food.  Unfortunately, a not long after Moose’s surgery, he passed away.  Since neither Karen or Scott are able to drive a vehicle, they were extremely thankful to our volunteers, the VVCC staff, their vet and everyone who helped during this time.  They are waiting for the right time to get another canine to help fill the void in their lives.

Here is an update on Karen and Cuddles. Karen, has moved to another city.  We helped Karen with Cuddles by paying vet bills and boarding costs while she was in the hospital.  After Cuddles passed away, she acquired a wily, wire haired mixed breed by the name of Snuggles.  We also helped Karen with costs for vet bills for this sweet little canine.  Because of Karen’s love for her canine, it determined where she had to relocate and that was to Phoenix.  She moved there only because the assisted living facility would accept pets!  Karen sent us a thank you letting us know how very much she has appreciated all of the help that she received from VVCC.

My sister Samantha and I really hope you can help support VVCC's pet program  because it has really helped us through a terrible time. 

Our human mother Ursula fell one day in our house and hit her head. We ran over and tried to help her but sniffing her wasn't enough to get her up. She pressed a button she had on her somewhere and several humans (EMTs) arrived. They wanted to take her to the hospital, but she didn't want to leave us alone. She was so worried. After a few days she called the nice ladies at VVCC and they convinced our mom she needed to get to the ER for help and that we would be taken care of through their pet assistance program. 

VVCC took our mom to the ER and another volunteer took us to a kennel to be boarded. We really missed our mom but made the best of it. The kennel humans were nice. They gave us lots of food and let us run around the backyard. We were wondering if we'd ever see mom again, and then we saw the crates. They always used to scare us, but somehow we knew they would get us home. Sure enough, as soon as we were in the front door, we heard mom crying "my babies." I was shaking so much I could hardly stand it. The crate doors opened and me and Samantha were running around wagging our tails so hard I thought my tail would fall off. Mom let us jump all over her. 

"Oh, my God, thank you," she said. She was so happy to see us.  And then she said we make her smile. Okay, mom, time for a tinkle.