We envision a world where every senior dog thrives and no old dog dies alone and afraid.
The Grey Muzzle Organization improves the lives of at-risk senior dogs by providing funding and resources to animal shelters, rescue organizations, sanctuaries, and other non-profit groups nationwide.
Values
- We believe old dogs contribute positively to our quality of life and have much to teach us about patience, respect, responsibility, loyalty and unconditional love.
- We believe every senior dog deserves to live out their golden years, months, weeks or even days in a place of love, security and peace.
- We believe dogs are not a disposable commodity; rather, they depend on us to care for them through all stages of their lives.
- We believe at times it is appropriate to make an end-of-life decision based on a deteriorating quality of life or if the dog is harmful to itself or others.
- We believe in working with diverse organizations from across the country that share our fundamental values.
- We believe in honest and open decision making that allows us to be accountable to our donors and the organizations we support.
- We believe in providing educational support, advocacy, and sharing of best practices for those who support senior dogs.
A Grey Muzzle Story
The report from the shelter was extremely grim—not only was Kumal more than 11 years old, he reportedly had a very serious spinal injury, had difficulty walking, and clearly was coping with a troubling neurological deficit. The Thulani Program of German Shepherd Rescue of Northern California was convinced that he was a hospice candidate, likely only to survive for a few months before passing to the Rainbow Bridge.
But as Thulani reports, "Lesson learned—don’t jump to conclusions without gathering data!" With funding from The Grey Muzzle Organization, Thulani performed a complete neurological assessment on Kumal, and the results had everyone dancing around the room. His walking issue and neurological deficit resulted from an old injury that had healed. Kumal had learned how to manage it. The probability of any progressive deterioration was low. Best of all, Thulani could find no indications that he was in pain. Bottom line—Kumal just walks funny!
Kumal now lives with his loving adoptive family on a large, redwood-covered property in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California.
The Grey Muzzle Organization makes happy endings like this one possible--on a national scale.