Boy dying from cancer forced to give up dogs UPDATE #13/details #20)

[pitc9]

I read elsewhere that a meeting was planned to decide today if the dogs could be kept under "special circumstances". The CTV article didn't mention that at all. All may not be lost for them yet.

Good, there's some hope left...

[Catty1]

Wed, August 22, 2007
Sick boy's wish to keep dogs
UPDATED: 2007-08-22 01:50:57 MST

Cancer patient forced to choose pets or home

By NADIA MOHARIB, SUN MEDIA



Parker Anderson-Stanley has spent three years fighting for his life and now the young cancer patient wants his mother to put the same fight into keeping the dogs who have added so much to what little time he has left.

The six-year-old, who is receiving palliative care, was given the two dogs in June by people trying to fulfil the wish of a sick kid, but the family's landlord, Calgary Housing Company, told them they have to get rid of the pooches or move out, Parker's mom, Alex, said.

"Parker wants me to fight for the dogs," Alex, 36, said yesterday.

Parker, his mom and brother Brody live in a Calgary Housing home -- which at $265 a month is an affordable option after Alex gave up her job and home in Canmore to be with her son in his fight against high-risk neuroblastoma.

The single mom recently got a memo giving her seven days to get rid of the dogs or face eviction.

"They have rules and I understand that," she said.

"I'm a single mom, with no job and a sick kid and Calgary Housing gave me a place to live when no one else would ... but I'm hoping they are making an exception."

Ald. Ric McIver, Calgary Housing's chair, said a final decision will be made today.

He said an exception to allow the dogs to stay has not been ruled out.

"We understand this is a very special case that merits very special consideration and it's going to get that special consideration," he said.

Parker was first diagnosed with cancer when he was three, on Alex's birthday.

This spring, doctors put Parker's prognosis at eight months to a year.

Parker, who had to give up his dog Cooper when he was first diagnosed, never forgot the love of a pooch and repeatedly asked for another.

When his mom said no, he would tell anyone who would listen about his wish.

Then, in June, two people Alex barely knows showed up with two dogs, within two weeks of one another.

"They thought 'let's give him his dream dog,' " Alex said.

"I seriously said no, but they kept at it and Parker really wanted a dog."

Alex said she hopes an exception is made so the dogs -- Rudy, a great Dane, and Cooper, a vizsla/black Lab cross -- who give life to her son and often leave him rolling on the floor "kicking, screaming and giggling" can stay. "I love them," Parker said. "Because they love me."

Alex is allergic to the pair but said she sees the "stress-reliever" daily difference they make for the entire family.

"They are a royal pain in the ass, I'm picking up poop bigger than my head and I don't get to sleep in but it's all freaking worth it just to see the look on Parker's face," she said.

"I did know better," she said of the no-pet policy. "But put yourself in my position, my son has eight months to a year, you only live once and you've got to try to put as much joy in as possible."

[Queen of Poop]

He gets to keep them!!!! Special arrangements are going to be made. But he gets to keep his doggies!!!!

Ya hoo.

Finally something right has been done by our city!!

[kittycats_delight]

He gets to keep them!!!! Special arrangements are going to be made. But he gets to keep his doggies!!!!

Ya hoo.

Finally something right has been done by our city!!

That is the best news I have heard all day. Time for the big wigs to get with the program and realize there is more to life they 'their rules' and 'their ways'.

WTG little man you can at least have some joy with your buddies until the good lord calls you to his side.

[IRescue452]

Can she afford to feed a great dane and a lab mix? Maybe whoever gave them up should have brought chihuahuas.

[kittycats_delight]

Can she afford to feed a great dane and a lab mix? Maybe whoever gave them up should have brought chihuahuas.

You know sometimes you have to show a little humanity. This is a 6 year old little boy who may not see his seventh birthday. His wish was to have the love of a dog in his life and 2 people granted him that wish. I don't think they would offer a huge dog without thinking about the cost of feeding it and besides with all the media coverage this story has gotten those dogs will not need for anything I am sure. I can bet they will be given the best of foods and vet care if needed and when the time comes and if mom wants to give them up there will be people lining up around the block to give them fantastic homes. Sometimes just sometimes the world and people can surprise us and unfortuately it usually takes something as sad as this story to see it.

[Catty1]

Dying boy gets to keep dogs

calgary.ctv.ca

rre

POSTED AT 12:06 PM Wednesday, August 22

A 6-year-old boy dying from cancer may not have to give up his two dogs.

A spokesperson for the Calgary Housing Company, Dale Stamm, says his staff are doing everything they can to assist Parker Anderson and his family.

Anderson and his mother Alex live in a Calgary housing unit and accepted the dogs as a gift even though their complex has a no-pet policy.

Stamm says Calgary housing has some units were pets are allowed and the company is trying to help the family find a space so they can keep the two dogs.

“When Mrs. Anderson advised the Calgary Housing Company that she needed her dogs for therapeutic reasons, the company immediately started to work with her on a long-term plan to preserve her tenancy,” says Stamm.

The plan may also include finding a housing unit that is close to the Alberta Children’s Hospital for Parker’s treatment for high-risk neuroblastoma.