8-year-old Robbie Gay is well aware that his life could have turned out very differently. Before he was adopted by a loving couple, Robbie suffered severe abuse. He was twice hospitalized with brain injuries before entering the Florida foster system.
“He knows what it feels like not to be loved and cared for. He’s the most hopeful, optimistic, and genuinely caring kid who has absolutely no reason to be that way,” Robbie’s adoptive mom, Maria told CBS News.
Since his adoption, Robbie has channeled that optimism into helping senior dogs. On his visits to Flagler County Humane Society in Palm Coast, Florida, Robbie seeks out the “oldest, mangiest, least-adoptable mutt of the lot.”
“There’s something about old dogs that I just like,” Robbie says.
Could it be he sees himself in the eyes of the unloved and the unwanted? In his interview with CBS, Robbie compared senior shelter dogs to older children in the foster system.
“People don’t want older people and older dogs. They only want babies and puppies.”
Despite his obvious compassion for animals and empathy for foster children, Maria says Robbie could not cry. Whatever happened in his past, he kept his emotions locked inside. That is, until one of the family’s senior dogs, Buffy, had to be put to sleep.
Robbie insisted on holding her in his arms throughout the entire process. Once Buffy crossed the Rainbow Bridge, he finally broke down. Through tears, he told his mom:
“I know how it feels not to be loved or cared for and I don’t want any animal of mine to feel that way.”
Robbie’s goal is to adopt as many senior dogs as his parents will allow. They currently have six, having recently taken in a “lame, snaggletooth Shih-Tzu mutt named Molly” after her owner entered assisted living.
Robbie also hopes to follow in his parents’ footsteps by adopting older foster children when he becomes an adult.
“He is so aware that it could have gone totally differently for him. And in these older dogs Robbie has found a place to practice compassion,” Maria said.
H/T & Screenshots via CBS News
Toledo, United States.
