Ridglan Farms beagles: Dog with cancer adopted by Wisconsin family
Family adopts beagle despite cancer discovery
A Mukwonago family who fostered a Ridglan Farms beagle, Bailey, decided to adopt her despite a cancer diagnosis that could cut her life short.
MILWAUKEE - Of the Ridglan Farms beagles the Wisconsin Humane Society took in, more than half are now in their forever homes. For 6-year-old Bailey, that freedom comes while her own mortality is in doubt.
Beagles finds forever home
What they're saying:
Until quite recently, Bailey didn't have a name. She had a job: pump out litters of beagles to feed America's scientific research apparatus.
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Now, the beagle is free but faces an uncertain future, and her adoptive owners in Mukwonago are determined to prove even a short life can be a good one.
"She’s trying. She’s trying really hard to be a dog," said Jeanne Truax.
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Traux said, even if they only get a few weeks with Bailey, it's a better life than everything that came before.
"Something just tugged at me to do this and help a beagle," she said.
When the Wisconsin Humane Society announced it was looking to re-home Ridglan Farms beagles, Truax reacted so quickly that she forgot one thing.
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"I hadn’t told Lyle I already applied, and he looked at me and said, ‘We’re fostering, right?’ and I said yeah," she recalled.
The plan was to temporarily foster Bailey, but plans changed.
"I knew right when I saw her come rolling out, yeah – just something inside you," said Lyle.
Bailey the beagle at her new home in Mukwonago
Jeanne and Lyle Truax have two other dogs and six cats, all rescues. They knew Bailey would be different; she was skittish at first and "very zoned out."
"Their instinct, just to eat, something that simple was broken," Lyle said.
For days, they said Bailey remained shut down, but slowly, she started wanting to come out. Their other dogs, Boomer and Toby, coaxed her to join them outside. Bailey will join – as long as Lyle is close by.
"I do all the work. I do everything, and the dog goes to him. And I’m like, ‘I’m the one that found you,'" said Jeanne.
Tumors discovered
What they're saying:
But just as Bailey started to come out of her shell, they had to take her back to the humane society to be spayed. Veterinarians found tumors on the beagle's mammary glands.
"We got a phone call a couple of hours after dropping her off that they had opened her up and noticed the three tumors," said Jeanne. "They felt it had metastasized to her lungs."
Bailey the beagle at her new home in Mukwonago
According to the paperwork, the cancer could cut Bailey's new life short. Jeanne and Lyle decided to adopt her anyway.
"'We understand if you want to give her back,'" Jeanne recalled staff saying. "Lyle and I looked at each other, and he was already shaking his head ‘no.'
"She likes our house, and we’re in it for the long haul, whatever that is."
"The will to live"
What's next:
How long the haul might be is still uncertain, but there are signs of hope. A closer look at Bailey's lungs showed the cancer may not have spread, at least not yet.
"They had originally said anywhere from weeks to months," said Jeanne. "It’s not in the lymph nodes, so those are all good signs."
Next month, Bailey will take her first trip to an oncologist.
Bailey the beagle at her new home in Mukwonago
"We’re hoping for the best, obviously," said Lyle.
Whether she has years or months or weeks, one thing is certain: 6-year-old Bailey will wake up every day to a safe home and a loving touch.
"She has that will to live. I see it in her eyes," said Jenne.
The Source: FOX6 interviewed Jeanne and Lyle Truax and referenced prior coverage related to Ridglan Farms.