Glinda & Murphy

100 Days. 100 Stories. One Very Big Dream.
Sometimes one little dog changes the entire direction of your life.

In November 2018, Judy had no plans to foster a dog.

She came to Always & Furever to volunteer.

Clean up poop.

Wash dog dishes.

Spend time loving dogs.

That was the plan.

But as so many of us have learned...

Plans have a funny way of changing around here.

One of our early transports arrived, and Jen asked Judy and her daughter if they could temporarily foster a senior dog.

All they had seen was a photo of what Judy describes as a "very dirty, dreadlocked moth" sitting inside a crate.

They couldn't see his face.

They couldn't see his nose.

They really had no idea what kind of dog was hiding underneath all that hair.

Underneath was Murphy.

A tiny, rickety senior miniature schnauzer who wasted no time showing them exactly who he was.

By the very next day, Murphy was dancing around the kitchen with three little boys dressed in Spider-Man suits.

He loved kids.

He loved his new people.

And his "temporary" foster home was already starting to feel a whole lot like home.

A few days later, Judy got a call.

Someone might be interested in adopting Murphy.

Her family panicked.

"Mom, do something. We have to keep Murphy."

So Judy called Jen, unsure what the adoption process even looked like in those early days of Always & Furever, and told her they wanted Murphy to stay.

Jen's response?

"It will be so."

And it was.

Murphy spent his remaining years deeply loved by Judy's family.

But his story didn't end there.

Because Murphy wasn't the destination.

Murphy was the beginning.

Since that day, Judy and her daughters have adopted seven Always & Furever dogs.

And Judy has fostered 27.

Many of them seniors who spent the rest of their long, happy lives surrounded by love.

And then there's Glinda.

Judy's newest adoptee.

A 14-year-old little lady who arrived at A&F with a mysterious brain injury.

Her very first night with us, she was rushed to the emergency hospital.

Since then, she has undergone MRIs, CT scans, and extensive veterinary care as we worked to understand what was happening.

She still struggles with balance.

She might be walking along and suddenly do a barrel roll.

But she also loves her sniffy walks.

She has earned the nickname "Glinda Sue" from Judy's husband.

And she is living a wonderfully loved life exactly as she is.

Because that has been part of the A&F promise from the beginning:

We go for it.

We care for these animals as though they are our own.

We fight for the medical care they need.

We give them time.

We give them peace.

And whenever possible, we give them a home.

For years, that has meant an incredible network of veterinary partners and volunteers driving dogs all over the metro for care.

Judy alone estimates she has driven roughly 240,000 local miles helping transport animals to veterinary appointments.

Think about that.

Hundreds of thousands of miles.

One person.

Countless animals.

Countless chances.

And now the dream is growing.

Our veterinary team and the St. Francis Medical RV were huge steps forward.

Homestead East is the next one.

A place where we can expand this work with a brick-and-mortar veterinary center.

More tiny homes.

More peaceful spaces.

More opportunities for dogs to decompress when a foster home like Judy's isn't available.

Because that's what our $1.4 million dream is really about.

More Murphys.

More Glindas.

More second chances.

More people who walk through our doors thinking they're just volunteering for a little while...

And discover a community that changes their lives, too.

Judy says one of the greatest gifts from all these years hasn't only been the animals.

It's been the people.

The friendships.

The community.

The people she never would have met otherwise.

People like Amy.

Friends who became family.

What started as a couple of days a week hanging out with dogs became, in Judy's words,

"A lifetime experience."

And it all started with one dirty, dreadlocked little senior dog named Murphy.

One foster.

One yes.

One life that changed so many others.

This is Rescue Reimagined.

This is the dream.

And somewhere out there, there are still so many Murphys waiting for someone to say yes. ❤️

100 Days. 100 Stories. 100 reminders of why we believe Rescue Reimagined is possible. 🐾