I hope you are ready to cry. Not all tears mean sadness. These tears are tears of love, beauty, and tenderness. One of our long-term volunteers, and now a board member, fostered Biff and is the author of this story. I am just the messenger. Fostering a rescue dog is such a beautiful act of kindness, and not just for sick or old dogs. All dogs can benefit from a foster home. Williston Animal Group pays for all vet care, and services of foster dogs in our care. We can even supply food if you need it and want to foster a WAG dog. We are a 501C3 dog rescue located in Williston, FL. The more foster homes we have the more dogs we can save from local shelters. If you would like to learn more about fostering please call us at 352-528-9888, or you can email us at info@willistonanimalgroup.com
Now on to the story.
I’ll never understand why Biff’s family left him tied to a park bench in town. But in a weird way, I’ll
always be grateful that they did. If they hadn’t left him, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to know
and love him in his time of need. He appeared to be in good health and had a great disposition, so it’s
hard to know why he was left like that. But their decision to leave him alone tied to that park bench led
to one of my greatest foster experiences.
Biff was found by the town’s animal control officer and was brought to Williston Animal Group to be
held for 3 days to see if he would be claimed. Nobody came forward to claim this 120 lb, beautiful boy.
He was believed to be ½ Great Pyrenees and ½ Saint Bernard. Whatever breed he was, he was a 100%
lovable, joyful dog.
Biff had a gentle spirit, especially for a dog that weighed so much and had a giant head. We first met Biff
in early 2019 when we were volunteering at the kennels of Williston Animal Group. If you’re not
familiar with WAG, you should really get to know this organization because we do great work for dogs in
need! Anyway, my son absolutely adored Biff right from the beginning. He always greeted
everyone with his goofy smile and his happy-go-lucky nature. But shortly after arriving, he started
showing signs of illness. He wasn’t eating well and was lethargic. In May 2019, WAG found out that
Biff had cancer. That dreaded diagnosis for all creatures… poor Biff. His cancer was not treatable, and
he was expected to live 6 -12 months before passing. WAG started to look for a foster home so that Biff
would be more comfortable for the end of his life.
I went home and told my husband about Biff’s diagnosis and that we had to find him a foster home.
Thank goodness, my husband is a sucker for the big dogs and he knows that I couldn’t stand the thought
of Biff not having the best end possible for his life. We had never fostered before, but we decided that
we would foster Biff if he got along with our 2 dogs and the cat. Luckily, Biff loved other dogs and our
dogs easily accepted him into the pack. The cat wasn’t so sure about this arrangement and I’m not sure
that Biff had ever seen a cat before. He seemed absolutely fascinated with her. But, it didn’t take long
before he won her over too. He went so far as to share his food bowl regularly, with his new cat friend.
I’m sure that I cannot capture in words the joy that Biff brought to our lives. He really was an amazing
dog. He was on some medications for his pain, but otherwise wasn’t receiving much treatment.
However, he was receiving and giving a lot of love. He started eating again… a lot. He bounced when he
ran, slept like the dead, and drooled buckets always. He loved to play with his doggy friends and nap in
the sunshine. Biff never missed an opportunity to be pet and LOVED to cuddle in the beanbag. He and
my husband were garage buddies and had a special bond. You see, nobody told Biff that he was sick.
So, he just kept living his life with the joy and happiness that he shared with so many. 6 months came
and Biff just ran past that timeline. Then, a year passed and Biff just kept playing.
Almost a year and a half after we started fostering Biff, one of our other dogs passed away. Biff gave me
such comfort while I mourned her loss. He would put his giant head into my lap and let me cry. His
compassion was on full display and he really helped us to move on from her loss. It wasn’t long before
we brought some additional fosters home and Biff accepted each one as they passed through our home
on their way to their furever homes. This amazing boy lived 2 years after his original diagnosis. In fact,
when I looked back at the dates, he passed away exactly 2 years after WAG announced his diagnosis to
the volunteer group.
As a foster parent for a terminally ill dog, you know there will be a loss. You have to expect it. But you
also get so much love and joy. Biff filled my heart regularly. Watching my husband snuggle with this
gorgeous, giant dog was so special. Seeing my son play with him was amazing. Biff’s gentle nature was
so genuine and his happiness was contagious. So, even though we knew that we would lose him, we are
incredibly grateful for two years with an amazing dog that brought so much joy into our lives. It was
painful when it was his time to cross the rainbow bridge, but that pain is so outweighed by the love that
we received from him. I’m so thankful that we were able to make the last two years of his life happy
and he repaid it tenfold.
Fostering dogs is not always easy. Fostering dogs that are sick is even harder. But, it’s so worth it if you
love dogs. So, if you think that you might be able to add a dog to your home, even temporarily, please
consider fostering. You’ll get far more than you will give.
Williston Animal Group 