Adopted Dog Becomes Comfort Canine For Patients Undergoing Cancer Treatments

Sometimes an adoption match is so perfect that it’s as if it was meant to be. That was the case when Mandy Weikert met Lady – a silly, outgoing Pit Bull mix – at BARCS Animal Shelter in Baltimore, MD.

Not only are they the prefect match; together, Weikert and Lady care for and comfort the patients at FHL Blood and Cancer Specialists where Weikert works as a nurse.

 

Weikert and her fiancé, Chris Kimple, were still mourning the passing of their previous dog when Laura Griffiths, volunteer coordinator for BARCS, called to tell them about Lady. Weikert told People Pets that despite her reservations, the connection with Lady was instant.

 

“’I was just afraid. It was hard to go there, because it reminded me of my last dog and I was convinced I would never have that connection again. When she came out she was just goofy, she was running around and falling off things and just perfect. She made me laugh. And I just thought, ‘She is always going to make me laugh…’ ”

The love connection between Lady and Weikert was a momentous occasion for Lady’s friends and caretakers at the shelter who had watched her get passed over by potential adopters time and time again. Griffiths said in the story:

“It was one of those magical adoptions you wish every dog had. When she took Lady, there was a procession of volunteers and staff saying goodbye to Lady.”

 

Little did they know, that “magical adoption” was just the beginning! Before he passed away, Weikert’s previous dog, Murphy, had accompanied her to work at the Cancer Center. Lady quickly and effortlessly stepped into his role as patient greeter and support pup.

Weikert told People Pets:

“She makes people laugh and makes people smile and makes people forget why they are there. When they are with Lady, they are not cancer patients anymore. They are just people who are happy.”

Lady is never pushy with her affections. She seems to sense when a patient could use her company. She will stroll over, lay by their side, and offer her signature goofy grin. As the official office Comfort Canine, she accepts payment in the form of belly rubs!

Bailey Deacon, BARC’s director of communications, is delighted to see one of the shelter alums – especially a Pit Bull – filling a role of service and support.

“The reason this story is so big is that it’s an amazing example of what shelter pets can do. Shelter pets are not broken animals…Lady is a service animal not just to one person but to every person that comes through that clinic.”