2 minute read
LARRY
From King Of The Strays To Guardian Angel
By Caitlin Beall
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Never in my life did I think I would be writing with such devastating news. Larry passed away. We are absolutely crushed. Larry was found lifeless in his bed. He appeared to have had a seizure. It was like a bad dream. In the past, we have looked at Larry and said, “I can’t believe this is real.” We still were getting used to HAVING Larry after working on saving him for so many years. Now we are repeating the same line but in much different terms.
Never did we think we would lose him this soon. We cried over Larry for hours and just spoke about how much we love him. We told stories about his goofy habits, like crossing his legs every time he “plopped” on the couch. We told the story about the one time we rescued over a dozen dogs from “Larry’s corner” because of all the animals that were magnetized to him. We spoke about the Larry hair that we will probably continue to find for years no matter how much we vacuum. We spoke about how he would probably love to see a bunch of ladies crying and sobbing over him. We estimated how many “Larry babies” are out in the world and how much child support he owed us.
We drove out to Larry’s corner and spent some time just sitting and reflecting over the years spent there and all of the lives that were saved because of him. We then drove through the area, equipped with multiple traps, crates, slip leads, etc. We didn’t find a single stray. It was eerie. It felt strange leaving El Mirage without any dogs. I don’t think that has ever happened before. We didn’t know if we should past few months. He would spend time outside eating bones, running with the horses or majestically sprawled out on the bed. We have just been trying to make sense of why he is gone. Did we miss something? Is this something that stemmed from his original injury? How does a dog really bounce back from having thousands of maggots in his head? Did the original infection never fully leave? Was it a condition we were never aware of? We have been going over scenario after scenario in our heads. The reality is we don’t know and we never will. We do know that he was not in pain, and we did absolutely everything in our power to ensure his health and wellbeing. But…sometimes Mother Nature just has other plans—like promoting Larry from King of the Strays to Guardian Angel. feel really accomplished for the years of trapping on these streets or if we should blame Larry for giving his “homies” and “baby mamas” a heads-up that we were coming.
The world just feels different right now without Larry. He was just starting to thrive. His insecurities were really leaving. He was so, so very happy the
Larry was truly one of a kind. He was like no dog you will ever meet. He was majestic, strong, quiet and mysterious. He just had this presence about him that was like no other animal I have come across. Larry was truly legendary. Someone once said, “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.”
We promise to carry on Larry’s legacy by advocating for the stray, fearful and injured animals that spend day in and day out on the streets fighting for survival. In his honor, we will continue to #SAVETHESTREETDOGS.
