The couple adopted a baby in July 2019. The child had a traumatic childhood – he was bullied and beaten before he got into the foster system, and then to new parents. The boy and his parents had a common passion – to take adult animals from the shelter and care for them. This in many ways brought the child closer to the foster mom and dad. Almost immediately after Robbie moved in, they had an adult dog named Buffy.
However, after a while, Buffy had to be euthanized. The pet was taken to the veterinarian to clean healthy teeth and remove sick ones, but before the procedure, it turned out that the dog had bad tests. Her kidney failure progressed, so anesthesia was contraindicated for her.
Then the family decided that the kindest and most loving decision would be to let Buffy go before she loses her will to live and refuses to eat.
It would never have crossed my mind to leave Robbie out of this decision or not to let him participate in the whole process. I immediately went and picked him up from school,” said Maria, the boy’s mother. “He told me on the way to the vet that he wanted to be the one to hug Buffy when she went to heaven.
When Maria and her son came to see Buffy on their last trip, the boy hugged the dog tightly and did not let go until the very end. Robbie asked to capture the touching moment on camera. He then explained why this was necessary.
I know what it’s like to live without love or care, and I don’t want my animal to ever feel that. Only we are sad when they go to heaven. It’s a happy day for them,” Robbie explained to his mom.
Maria told reporters that Buffy is not the only one Robbie tried to give love to. According to her, he loves to take care of older dogs.
He is, unfortunately, aware that the longer a child stays in an orphanage, the less likely it is to be adopted. One day he told me: “If you only wanted a baby, you would never know me.” He refers to our “old men”, as we call older dogs, about the same.
Robbie once said to Mary:
It doesn’t matter how long we have something, it doesn’t affect how much we love it.
Then the mother hardly understood what the son meant, but he explained:
He told me, “You’ve only known me for two years, but you love me like I’ve always been with you.” Yes, my son is the coolest! the boy’s mother says.
Robbie’s story was shared by foreign media in February 2020. Since then, the boy has become a volunteer in a public institution, where he advocates for the interests of older dogs. And immediately after his story became popular, dozens of families decided to adopt elderly pets.
In just one day, the family learned about 25 adoptions of adult dogs.
