Gracie Weber-Quigley: Queen of Hearts!

For months after she and husband John lost their Schipperke mix Bear, Ann Weber had been sneaking furtive peeks at dogs on Petfinder. Dumped on their street as a puppy 16 years earlier, Bear had turned Ann from a cat-only lover to a confirmed “bi-petual” with room in her heart for dogs. With their adored companion gone, a dogless existence was not to be borne.

Still, after such a painful loss they were hesitant to jump back in. They would wait a few months, maybe foster … ease back into it. Until the day last Summer Ann spied Gracie’s face peering out at her from the computer screen.

“Honey,” she called out. “Please come and take a look, just at this one dog.” John rolled his eyes, but hung up the dish towel and joined her at computer. There at the top of the Petfinder page was a thumbnail image of a little black dog with a solemn expression. He did a double-take.  It was Bear’s face on a Corgi body. “Oh,” he said. “Oh!” 

And that, in the Summer of 2012, was their first look at Gracie.

“She was just 60 miles away from our home in Asheville, North Carolina. ‘Email them’ John urged, ‘call them!’ According to staff at Greenville County (SC) Animal Care, the nameless little black Cardigan with the white front sock had been turned in with an age (8 years) but no name, and was still waiting after almost two months. ‘No one wants an older dog,’ they explained.”