Bunker’s Story

Hello. My name is Bunker and I crossed The Rainbow Bridge on Tuesday, April 26, 2011.  Here is my story …

I spent the first six months of my life at a large-scale breeding facility in Iowa. The lady who owned me decided she no longer had any use for neither me nor my brothers and sisters. She was either going to destroy us or take us to a large-scale breeding facility auction where she could hopefully make some money on selling us to another breeding facility. I didn't know where I was going or who was going to take care of me. I made the journey from Iowa to Missouri where they hold the auctions. Upon our arrival, they put tags around all of our necks with numbers. I was known as number 249. A loud man on a speaker was talking to all these people, and everything was moving so fast. Dogs were taken up one by one and the loud man would shout out numbers. All the dogs were shaking. I was so scared. All of a sudden they grab me and my brothers and sisters and take us up to the front with everyone looking at us. People were talking around us and poking and prodding at us. All of a sudden the loud man said "SOLD" and whisked my brother and I away. I wasn't sure what had happened. They took my sisters away, but at least I had my brother. 

The next thing I know we are put in a cage in a van. We drove for two days straight. When they finally opened the door to the van, it was so sunny and warm. Then … another car and more driving. Not long after, I was on this green funny looking stuff with new people who were comforting me and speaking to me with kind voices. I later found out it was grass, and this was my new family. I had never known what grass was before that moment. I realized I had been saved. 

My new family was wonderful. They bathed me, fed me good food, and always had fresh water out for me. I got lots of hugs and kisses and even got to sleep in a huge comfortable bed with them. Little did I know this bliss would only last for 6 more days. 

I started to feel sick a few days after arriving, and things went downhill really fast. My new mom took me to the vet, and they told her that my lungs were filled with fluid, which was very uncomfortable for me. The vet told my mom she would have to take me to a bigger hospital. We arrived and they hooked me up to all of these monitors and poked me with needles. I felt so sick. I couldn't breathe and everything hurt. The vet told my mom that I would need a $9,000 emergency surgery immediately. They said that my chances of survival were 70%. That night they put me to sleep and opened up my whole chest to flush my lungs out. When I woke up, I was in an oxygen chamber to help my breathing, which felt like another cage. I wanted to fight. I wanted to feel the grass under my paws again. I wanted to sleep curled up next to my mom in bed. But that just wasn’t in the cards. I was only 7 months old. I had so much more to experience than 7 days of freedom and love.  Unfortunately, my little body just couldn't fight anymore, so my mom decided to help me cross the rainbow bridge. 

Although I only had freedom for 7 days, those 7 days were worth it all. I went out of this world knowing what it felt like to be loved and the kind of life I was supposed to live.

After I passed, it was discovered that my body was filled with e Coli. The commercial breeding facility I came from originally admitted that she had e Coli coming from her cattle. My mom advocated for me, and wrote letters to the USDA. Those horrible people got in trouble for the unsanitary conditions we were all living in. After I came to Arizona, the volunteers at Cavalier Rescue Foundation vowed to give all the sick Cavaliers the same chance to survive as they gave me ... and this is how The Bunker Fund was established.

In memory of #249, please consider making a tax deductible donation to Bunker's Fund.