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By: JMertlich,
10/31/2008
Mr. Bones has left the building!
October 24, 2008 : 4:39 PM ET
"Mr. Bones has left the building!" Not many posters on a wall could generate so much excitement at Best Friends’ Dogtown.
Mr. Bones has been adopted! If good things come to those who wait, Mr. Bones should be qualified to inherit his own planet. For now at least, he’s content with his own private wing in his new home.
For those who aren’t familiar with this celebrity, Mr. Bones has been quite a legend at Best Friends for a long, long time. 13 years! He came in October of 1995 from Puerto Rico. An undercover DEA agent saw a stray female dog sharing what little food she had with a bone-thin dog. Seeing this act of kindness touched the DEA agent so much that she decided to trap them both. She called the skinny dog Bones, and the female dog Negrita.
Then she called Best Friends for help. There was room, so Best Friends was able to take them. The plan was for the DEA agent to adopt the dogs when she was re-stationed back in the United States, but that was something that never ended up happening. So Mr. Bones and Negrita lived happily at Best Friends, and Negrita settled in just great, before later finding a home. But Mr. Bones started to become dog aggressive, even toward Negrita. That was a problem, and meant he had to live alone, without other dogs.
In the 13 years he’s lived at Best Friends, Mr. Bones has grown a fan base like you wouldn’t believe. He was a sleepover king to boot. That means visitors loved taking him on overnight dates with them. The one thing, though, that always kept him out of a home was the fact that he doesn’t get along with other animals. Everybody who loved him had at least one pet.
Then came Sharon Sowada of Ellicott City, Maryland. She and her sister Martha came out to visit the sanctuary for a few days. Before coming, Sharon had heard all about Mr. Bones and wanted to meet him. What she didn’t plan on, however, was falling head over heels in love with the guy.
Sharon considers herself a cat person. "My husband is the dog person," she admits. But Mr. Bones changed all that with the first sleepover. From the moment she met him, she was smitten. There was something about the goofy grin he gave her. Her original plan was to take a different dog each night on a sleepover. Nope. It was Mr. Bones or nothing! By the end of her stay, she knew she wanted to adopt him.
So, did Sharon have an animal-free home waiting for Mr. Bones? No. In fact, she had cats and dogs both. But she had a secret weapon that made everything better. Elbow grease! That, and a willingness to rearrange her home for the love of her life. Sharon went back home to Maryland and totally renovated the upstairs of her house. The other animals are downstairs, and Mr. Bones has the upstairs. He will never be in contact with the other animals, not even when he goes on his walks.
When the time finally came to take Mr. Bones home, caregivers and fans were excited. Maybe that’s an understatement. People practically named a new holiday after the occasion. This guy had some serious friends! Not the least of which is a group of three pals from New Jersey, known collectively as "The Jersey Girls."
The Jersey Girls visit Best Friends every year and Mr. Bones has always been their number one stop. Heck, they even have T-shirts with his picture on them that say, "Mr. Bones fan club." When they heard Mr. Bones had a home lined up, they wanted to help.
Turns out that Dr. Mike, Medical Director at Best Friends, would not let Mr. Bones fly. This dog is 14 years old at least. Airplane time was not in his best interest. Thank goodness Mr. Bones loves car rides. He would have to drive cross-country to his new home.
Wanting to be part of the big occasion, the Jersey Girls decided to raise money for the big road trip. They set up a donation fund and within 28 days raised $3,150 for Mr. Bones. See, we told you he has lots of friends! By the time Sharon rolled out of town, she was starting to realize just what a celebrity she had adopted. Congratulatory signs hung everywhere. "Mr. Bones has left the building!" was a favorite. He had a steady stream of well-wishers to say goodbye. The best, though, happened as Sharon and her sister tried to leave town.
They stopped for lunch, where random strangers knew all about Mr. Bones. The strangers were thrilled to learn he’d been adopted! They stopped again on the way out of town and met even more people who knew Mr. Bones and wished him well.
For the whole drive, Mr. Bones was perfect. In fact, he might’ve done better than the two sisters. Through regular phone calls with Sharon, one of the Jersey girls kept up a travel blog so folks could read about the journey. At last, Mr. Bones arrived home. Sharon and her husband can’t imagine how they ever got along without him. "You can’t have him back," she’s quick to say.
And as for the fan club? It will only grow stronger. Sharon is a Special Education schoolteacher (she also teaches the general student body) and her students have been hearing all about Mr. Bones. They can’t wait to see him. Happy endings, you gotta’ love ‘em. Congratulations, Mr. Bones!
Story by David Dickson
Photo by Molly Wald