Bentley Hardesty

1998- March 6, 2009

Dear Folks at GRRCC,

We wanted you all to know that at 1:00 today, our sweet, precious Bentley died quietly in my arms. Joe was at his side and he had his tennis ball. We have tried for 10 days to correct some serious health problems he was having. We gave it all we had and so did he. At about noon today the vet showed me his chest x ray and cancer was engulfing his lungs. We had our answer. It has been difficult these last few nights to lay and listen to his heavy, labored breathing so I knew today something had to be found and it was. The Vet was wonderful, even gave him ice-cream which he loved and ate every bite of! It was an honor to have loved this special animal and to be there in the end. It was very peaceful and actually comforting. It is not easy right now for any of us to talk about him but we are fine and Bentley isn’t suffering any more

Bentley’s story: Nine and a half years ago you sent us [on New Years eve night1999] a shaved down, skinny, long legged,13 month old male Golden who was about to be put down by owners who thought he was crazy and untrainable. That’s what happens when you have been through 3 homes in a year and chained to a post, outside every day of your life. As it was the holidays, your kennels were full and you were afraid for this dog’s life. You said when you called us that the DEA was coming in Jan. and if we found that he was indeed too high strung to live with a family they would more than likely use him to train to sniff out drugs but he would need to be fostered ‘til then. We were in NYC at the time with our kids for Christmas but flew home in time for this uncaring, uninterested woman to bring the dog to our house on New Years Eve. We explained at the time that we had loaned our large crate out to a new Golden puppy owner and could not keep him that night but we wanted to meet him. Long story short, our Bentley [who was then known as Chasey] was one of the smartest dogs we had ever seen, just completely neglected. My husband put him on a leash, probably for the first time ever and that dog could not have wanted to please us more. Naturally, crate or no he was NOT going back home with her and NEVER has spent a night away from our home from that moment on. He was not easy and there were times when I thought he might get the best of me, but when he got it- he got it and became the most perfect dog we have ever had. He was Golden #5 so we are pretty good at this and he is our second rescue Golden. I know you hear this often but it is so true. They know how lucky they are to be so profoundly loved and they give us so much more then we can ever possibly give them. They ask for nothing. It still amazes me that people can’t see the potential in these dogs and they just throw them away. But, that is our gain. My heart is so broken I can’t go to bed because my precious Bentley isn’t lying beside my bed. But here is the thing. We thought you should know that one of your dogs wasn’t just saved, he was profoundly loved and we consider it an honor.

Sincerely, Joe and Steffani