Riley Got His Spunk Back: A Happy Tail
January 3rd, 2024
By Savannah Verdon, Development and Engagement Coordinator II
As a working actress, Kathleen depended on having an audience to learn her lines and get familiar with her characters. Her dog Riley couldn’t prompt her when she missed a cue, but it filled her with confidence to see his curious, brown eyes shine with devotion when he watched her practice. To him, she was a star.
They had traveled a long road together to achieve Kathleen’s dream, touching lives all along the way:
“I don’t know where to begin. Riley has been my everything for the past nine years. He came from a pet hoarder in Indiana. He was born inside that house and his first day outside was the day I adopted him at 11 months old. When I adopted him, my dad had a dog in a wheelchair named Coal, and Riley helped cheer Coal up until he passed.
“Riley has always been the smartest and most well-behaved dog anyone has come across. I am blessed to have friends and neighbors who call and ask me if they can take him for a walk because everyone just loves him and wants to hang out with him. He has also worked on a couple of film sets with me!”
Filming for her show had wrapped up in the spring, and Kathleen was looking forward to a two-month break before it resumed in the summer. Just before she would return to the set, the SAG-AFTRA strike began, and she was suddenly unemployed. The Writers Guild of America had also gone on strike and with no resolutions in sight, Kathleen was left wondering, and worrying, how long it would be before she would work again.
But the show must go on, and Kathleen would make sure that Riley still got the best care and all the treats and attention possible on her tighter budget. Now that he was ten years old, seeing the veterinarian regularly was just as vital as taking more naps in the sunshine. Several months into the strike, when her resources were running low and her anxiety running high, Kathleen brought Riley to the veterinarian for a check-up. There they received a double dose of bad news: Riley’s liver function was beginning to decline, he would need expensive monthly medication, and he had a cyst growing unchecked in his armpit.
She could afford the liver medication with a little planning and careful budgeting every month, but the cyst needed to be removed right away. He was limping now that it had grown to a considerable size, making him more uncomfortable with each step. Fortunately, in the spirit of solidarity that pervades strikes, a SAG-AFTRA member told Kathleen about the RedRover Relief Urgent Care grant program and that she could get help with paying for Riley’s surgery. Kathleen applied right away hoping for a sign that their luck would turn around.
In November, the strike was over and Kathleen could begin looking for work. Their luck had turned the month before when an On-Call Angel funded Kathleen’s application for an Urgent Care grant, Riley was able to fully recover from the cyst removal procedure and was eager to be her captive audience once again. Naturally, Kathleen would be his faithful companion on the road to recovery:
“He was in rough shape right after surgery and even had a drain for a few days. Then we had a hard time keeping his bandage in place because it was such an awkward spot, so we decided to cover him with a t-shirt. He got his spunk back last week and it was hard to walk by the dog park this weekend because he wanted to play with his friends so badly!
“This morning he got his stitches removed and everything looks good! We then went to visit my mom where he enjoyed his time outside in the grass in this chilly weather that he loves. On our way back to my place, I stopped at the dog park so he could play with a few friends. Thank you so much for everything!”
Thank you, our supporters, so much for everything! Here’s to 2024 and the hundreds of heartwarming Happy Tails in the making – all because of you.
