The Bristol Animal Shelter has suffered a great loss this past week. Foley, the shelter guardian, has passed away. Foley was a dog that came into the shelter about six years ago. He was aggressive and protective when anyone approached his cage and was deemed not adoptable. We had just lost our two guard dogs, so Foley’s timing couldn’t have been better. Foley remained at the shelter and took their places as our shelter guardian. Foley began to warm up to the officers and volunteers who ventured to know him. He turned out to be a peach and was loved by many.

Foley was very good at his job and for anyone who has driven up to the shelter, you would know him by his bark. Foley also made a great companion for the other dogs at the shelter while they awaited their new home. Foley was the inspiration for the volunteer group started up three years ago, “Friends of Foley.” Not everyone knew who Foley was, so they decided to change their name to “Friends of the Bristol Animal Shelter” for better recognition.

Over the past three years, Foley’s inspiration has kept the volunteers moving forward in the fight to win a vote to build a new animal shelter, has raised awareness to our needs and has raised much needed monies for the shelter. The shelter has become very quiet this past week. Foley passed away last Sunday night from a condition know as bloat. Foley’s passing has been extremely difficult on the officers and volunteers of the shelter, he will be missed very much. Friends of the Bristol Animal Shelter will continue to move forward in Foley’s memory.

I will now take this opportunity to let you know of a few ways you can help the Bristol Animal Shelter to earn some much needed money. These are all free opportunities and can be done in Foley’s memory. The shelter is collecting used cell phones to be recycled which in the process earns us free money. If you shop at Shaw’s Supermarket, you can sign up your rewards card and Shaw’s will give us money equal to 1 percent of your grocery bill, and if you search the web, use Goodsearch.com as your search engine, and every search you do will earn us a penny. The big one this summer is a contest called the Shelter Challenge that is giving the shelter an opportunity to win up to $20,000! All you have to do is go to our website daily, click the link to “Vote Every Day” button and vote for the Bristol Animal Shelter as your favorite shelter. If we come in first in the country or first in the state, we will win some cash. If you would like to learn more about any of these opportunities and more, please visit our website at www.friendsoftheBristolAnimalShelter.org.

Foley was a great dog, friend, and guardian. Please help us to remember Foley with your support. Woof and meow!