The Cherie Memorial Fund helps the Missy Foundation care for elderly and abandoned dogs in their care and provides low and fixed income dog-owners with financial assistance for vet bills for their elderly dogs, in the hopes that it keeps senior pups at home with their humans.

About Missy Foundation:

The Missy Foundation has been providing sanctuary to abandoned eldery and unadoptable dogs for over twenty years. Located on Bowen Island, the dogs have free run of 10 fenced acres, healthy food, veterinary care, and all the love, blankets, toys, and treats they want. They live in the family home and sleep all over the couches and dogs beds. At any given time there are about twenty dogs in the foundation's care. As you can imagine the vet bills for the foundation are immense despite discounts through several community vet partners. The Cherie Memorial Fund will also help alleviate the trauma of having to euthanize an elderly dog prematurely or abandon them to a pound due to inability to pay a vet bill. Low income dog-owners will be able to apply for a no-interest loan, and fixed income recipeints will be eligieble for partial or even full vet bill grants.

Cherie's Story

Cherie was a very lucky dog, nothing bad ever happened to her, she lived her early life with a good family, and when she was 6 she moved to be a familiar to me, her human slave. After 6 years in Squamish and living in various places on Bowen Island We were lucky enough to find a rental apartment on the same property as the Missy Foundation, Cherie might be the only dog to ever take her human to a rescue. Cherie volunteered there as a doggy companion to the other doggies, sharing her human for walks, and treats and doggy feeding. Cherie was always generous with her food, her treats, and her time. She loved being an honourary part of the Missy pack.

She was a highly intelligent dog, with a spookily large understanding of human language, and a very distinct personality. She was just the right amount of independence and affection, we would often just sit on opposite ends of the beach, but together, staring out across the water. She LOVED sticks, and balls, waaay more than food. She was almost never seen without a ball in her mouth. As she got older she developed arthritis but she still liked to sit with a ball or stick.

The Missy Foundation helped me to provide for Cherie the absolute best life a dog could live - truly she was canine 1%. Cherie passed away recently after being diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma of the spleen. I promised Cherie that I would never let her suffer, and so accompanied by her doggy-buddy Tracker, and Deb the founder of Missy Foundation I had Cherie put to sleep at home to avoid the excruciating pain associated with this aggressive cancer. She was almost 15, and I do believe she was a truly blessed dog - the best dog in the world.