AUSTIN, Texas (WSVN) — A man with just days left to live wants to make sure his remaining rescue dogs find new homes.
According to KSAT, 71-year-old Richard Ewers made it his mission to take in stray and abandoned dogs. Volunteers and donors all helped to make sure the dogs were vaccinated, taken care of and that they were eventually adopted out.
However, Ewers was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Recently, he was placed in hospice care and given about a week to live.
Now, the goal is to find a home for Ewers’ remaining dogs.
“We are all very saddened by this, of course, and we want to make that last wish come true for him,” said Mary Oyler, with Save Our Strays San Antonio. “They can’t be here much longer.”
Oyler and other volunteers have been taking care of the dogs while Ewers is in the hospital. However, they want to avoid having the animals being picked up by the county.
“It would add a lot more stress to what they are going through already,” Oyler told KSAT. “Not having Mr. Richard here, there’s confusion, loneliness. There’s depression.”
A Facebook page has been set up to help find homes for the remaining dogs.
According to a Thursday morning update, five of the animals have been assessed and are considered ready to be adopted. However, the rest still need to be examined.
Volunteers said that anyone interested in adopting a dog must be patient with the animals as a majority of them are feral or semi-feral. It is also unclear if the animals will get along with children or other pets, and volunteers noted that potential owners may have challenges with these dogs.
“There’s a lot of work involved,” Oyler said. “All they’ve ever known is Mr. Richard, so it’s going to require a family that has a lot of patience.”
For more information on the animals and on how to adopt them, click here.
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