Cartier was released to travel to the states on February 19, 2009.  He came into Los Angeles airport and there was a transport team from my adoption kennel waiting to bring him into our adoption program.  Cartier was placed in my adoption group’s sponsor dog program when he came into our kennel.    Our group takes in Greyhounds that have special issues and needs, such as a medical issue into our adoption program until the Greyhound gets well enough for adoption.  While they are being rehabilitated they are placed in our Sponsor Dog Program.  This program is good for people that cannot adopt a Greyhound or are limited as to the number of Greyhounds they can adopt but wants to help the adoption group in another way.  Two of my local friends donate in that particular program.  Our group sends out letters and pictures of the dogs they sponsor.  Sometimes my friends send me pictures of the dogs that they sponsor.  Ironically, when they sent me the picture of the Greyhound they were both sponsoring it was Cartier!  Again, like magic he appears before my eyes.  
      Immediately after that poignant event, I started inquiring about Cartier to find out if he was ready to be adopted or if he was being profiled into a home. At that time, I found out that he had a chronic medical issue with his back right foot, where it would swell three times the size and then he would get listless, sick, stop eating, until his foot would start releasing fluid when his foot would get back to a reasonable size – never back to a normal size.  This “episode” occurred almost every three weeks.  They told me that he would have to stay in the kennel for a while until they could get this medical issue under wrap.  He would be very hard to place because of this chronic issue.  So, I asked if it would be possible for me to adopt him and with that said, “He has your name all over him.”  But they also said, “He has this chronic medical issue, it cannot be cured, and we have no idea how it is affecting his internal organs, or how long he will live, as he is 8 years old.”  He became my boy on June 14, 2009. 
      Adoption day was very dream-like.  The minute he came out of the transport van, I started crying, dropped to my knees and just cuddled on him.  He was home.  His forever home.  He was quite aloof at the beginning not sure of all the raucous going on about him.  He had been through quite a lot of trauma in the last seven months of his life. But that would soon change.  He adored my crew of four Greyhounds and a little Greyhound/deerhound mix, Paris, who just hit it off where she started mothering him.  He in turn was very nurturing and liked to have peace in the family, so he would let everyone know that now that he was there everything was going to be copasetic. 
      Cartier started playing with Chanel.  She is a very playful Greyhound and loves her toys.  So they started playing together with their various squeaky toys, they even came up with a game between each other.  Have you heard of the dueling banjos?  Well in my house, they took it one step further and they started playing the “dueling squeakers.” I have to say that Cartier was just having the time of his life learning and experiencing his new life and all it had to offer.
      In the meantime, while he was blossoming, I had started treating him holistically for his foot.  I embraced his medical issue wholeheartedly.  His medical issue was chronic, I knew that.  I had a myriad of tests done and they all came back negative – it left the veterinarians scratching their heads.  He did well with the holistic treatments, but it did not alleviate the condition at all, other than having what I call “episodes” once every couple of months instead of the chronic every three weeks. 
      I have to say that Cartier lived it large.  I hoped for the best, but I never knew too much of his background in Guam and he was already 8 years old with this medical issue, so there was no guarantee of his lifespan. With his demeanor he easily took on with full grace the role of Greyhound ambassador.  We could not go anywhere without people stopping us and asking about Greyhounds.  He was so wonderful with children that soon after his adoption I had him tested through Therapy Dogs Incorporated and he passed to become a registered Therapy Dog. 
      Yes, we lived it large, whether it was costume contests (he made the most wonderful Greyhound Bus), he took 3^rd place in Cesar Millan’s Best Camera Face, and most recently took 1^st Place at the Las Vegas Humane Society’s Polished Pooch Contest, we even were able to get in a couple of vacations to Greyhound gatherings in California and Utah.  Cartier was able to experience life as it was and he loved and participated in everything.  Cartier not only had outer beauty but he had an inner beauty that with all he had been through in his life. . . his inner beauty just radiated through him and extended to others in spirit.  You could not help but just put your arms around him and love upon him – you received so much back from him.  My “Guammie Bear” was fun and was always ready for the next adventure.   One of the funniest moments he had is when he would be ready to go – I’d find him standing in the mud room by the outside door that led out to the garage – waiting to go for a ride, wagging his tail, tongue hanging out, big smile on his face – how could you not love a face like that?  His exuding of energy was relentless.
      Ten months after adoption, Cartier came down with renal failure. That unforgettable day was bittersweet.  You see, Cartier hadn’t been really up to par the last week before his appearance in the Polished Pooch Contest, so I had made arrangements to take him in for tests after the contest.  They ran some tests to find that he was in renal failure.  He stayed in the hospital for five days.  I went to visit him every day for three hours at a time, taking him for little walks, feeding him, and just laying with him and talking to him, reassuring him that he was going to get better and come home.
      When he was able to come home, it was a happy day, because we were going to beat this!  Cartier was strong and we had come so far, with his chronic medical issue with his foot.  I had a friend base from all over the world that was giving me information on medications, special diets, special recipes, all in hopes to help Cartier with the kidney disease.  I even contacted Ohio State University Veterinarian School, where they run a Greyhound Health and Wellness Program.  I contacted them to seek out more medical regimens that could help my boy and possibly they would be able to enlighten me as to what his chronic medical issue was with his foot.  In fact, Dr. Couto, from that clinic had seen cases like Cartier had and called it “swollen leg syndrome.”  In retrospect, I wish I had contacted him when I had adopted him.  Dr. Couto immediately consulted with my veterinarian and we started an additional medical protocol, not only for the kidney disease but for this ailment.  It isn’t an ailment that could be cured, but it could be monitored and maintained. 
      Eventually, I believe that this ailment caused his death.  Some of his test revealed that he was losing protein out of his urine, and when his foot was in the process of leaking fluid, he could have possibly been losing protein in that fluid as well.  Losing protein can be deadly.  So, at this point, his medical issues were grave.
      Cartier and I had a blissful 11 months.  Cartier was insightful.  He may have known he was sick for a long time and didn’t show it.   I have no way of knowing that since the love he expressed was so pure and he gave so much during the short months I had him.  I had no reason to think otherwise.  I believe he wanted to go out on his terms.  And that he did.  My Guammie Bear succumbed to renal failure almost a month after diagnosis and almost one month before his “Gotcha Day,” the day he was adopted. 
      In that short time, Cartier imprinted my heart more than I can possibly put into words.  Not only my heart did he capture but he captured hearts from all over the world.  Because of his mass exposure from the national contests I entered him in and because of his numerous angels that helped with his rescue and care in Guam, there were people from all over the world that came together providing constant support and love for him.  I have had several people tell me that although they never met him in person that he was bigger than life in their hearts.  He had something special they said and he touched them.  He had a heart bigger than you can imagine and just had this luminescence about him and which he shared with everyone.  He was bigger than life itself and truly had the life from rags to riches, from pauper to prince.  He will always be my jewel, my Cartier.  I can look back and know that we did everything we could have in the short time we had together.  I have lots of memories that he left me with and looking back, I would have done it all over again.  He deserved the life of all the finer things life had to offer him while he was with our family and he got them. 
      Now, with his passing, my pack is going through changes.  They are so quiet and solemn.   Chanel, his play buddy, took four days before she would even pick up a toy to play.  Paris, his motherly sister, is mournful in the house, like she has lost her best friend.  Sancerre is very cuddly with me, like she knows I need her to be close, and Cezanne, my needy boy, seems to be in a confused state and trying to seek out where he stands in the pack.  Each of them said goodbye in their own way to Cartier the night he passed.  I do think dogs react to death differently than we humans do, they are very accepting to it and it is a fact of life for them.  Each of my pack through Cartier’s illness treated Cartier with respect, love, tenderness, and nurtured him to his passing.
      Some of the souls he touched by his being started when he was rescued.  An unknown military wife found him in a shopping center huddled in a corner.  She took him home but when he wouldn’t eat for her and he had the swollen foot, she delivered him to the rescue that they had set up in Guam for the rescued Greyhounds.  Then there was the angel that cared for him in the kennel in Guam.  Noni handfed him and got him vetted and ready to travel to the states.  There was another military family that a little girl would come in and go into his kennel and talk to him on her daily visits to him.   They eventually adopted another pair of Greyhounds and moved to China.  I think that is why he had such an affinity for children.  He had started having good memories to take place of the bad ones.  Then there were my adoption kennel angels who would come and stay with him during the night to try to get him to eat and well to be able to be placed up for adoption.  Then there are the people that initiated the cause of rescuing the Greyhounds from Guam and coordinated to be able to bring them to the states.  People that touched him in spirit were many.  Many of the same people that sent their thanks when I adopted him; many were the same that sent their condolences and relayed to me that he lived the best life he could possibly have had no matter how short, it was full of love and compassion and truly a rags to riches story of a misfit Greyhound.
      I really cannot figure out at this time why he was not able to stay with me longer.   I truly believe that his medical issue caused him to be sicker internally than what we all thought.  I had a friend tell me that his work was done here.  I want to think that he continues his work by gathering all the Guammie Bears that never got to be in forever homes and that he will be waiting with them when my time has come, all will have forever homes with us.
      I cannot understand why Cartier came to me so quickly after Renoir’s passing.  It took me a few years before my last Greyhound’s passing to adopt.   It seems that this whole adoption and the way it went down was divinely inspired.
      I am a very active owner with my Greyhounds.  I called Renoir, my glamour girl.  She did television appearances, runway modeling in Los Angeles, at Kodak Theatre, San Diego, and Las Vegas convention modeling.   So, she knew I’d miss that in some way, because not all Greyhounds “dig” that sort of thing.  She lived for it.  So, again, I believe she sent me Cartier to fill that void.  He seemed to thrive being in the spotlight.  He was so engaging and held such presence, so he seemed a perfect fit to continue the active household routine. 
      When I think of Cartier’s legacy, I believe it will come through me.  To be able to tell his story about his life from pauper to prince and pull it into my compassion for Greyhound adoption.  Bigger than life he welcomed everything and anybody into his life.  People felt his presence.  All the adversity he had in his life from being shipped as a puppy from Australia to Guam, being put into the racing world so young, having a medical issue with his foot and being forced to run anyway for seven years, left out to fend for himself after the track closing, and be able come through it.  Would any of us be able to come through it as he did?  Through all of this he showed unbelievable compassion for his life and to others he met.  That is what made him so special.  What an unbelievable gift he gave to all he touched with his story the unbelievable compassion and forgiving of this dog.  Cartier promoted Greyhound advocacy and awareness through the contests, wherein he was the only Greyhound submitted.  He has quite a story to tell through my heart.  Making others aware of his “mysterious” medical issue and making it come to light that through my perseverance to find treatment found out what it was in the end, too late to help him but may be help another Greyhound out there that has this same medical issue.  What one Greyhound did by just being – to bring people together from all walks of life from virtually all over the world is an absolutely amazing feat.  And that Greyhound was Cartier!

For first hand accounts of the rescues taking place in Guam go to: Notes from the Front Lines
For photos of the greyhounds go to Northcoast Greyhounds' Guam Photo Diary

Ohio State article showing DonStack unloading Guam greyhounds.

On November 7, 2008 the 32 year old Guam Greyhound Park, with approximately 250 greyhounds at the racetrack, abruptly closed. The closing was in response to the results of a failed initiative on the November 4 ballot which would have permitted casino style gambling on the racetrack property. John Baldwin, owner of the racetrack, who had tried to get similar initiatives passed three times in the past six years, claimed the racetrack was losing $100,000 a month.
On November 24,the Guam Greyhound Park started a public giveaway of 150 of the racetrack’s greyhounds. Dogs were given away free to anyone who came to the track. None of the greyhounds were spayed or neutered. No record was kept of who got the greyhounds, how many each person took and no legal transfer of title was made. Obviously, no standard adoption process was in place: no home check and no information about greyhound behavior or care.
It has been reported that many people took the free greyhounds believing they would make good guard dogs. Some of the islands dog fighting “fans” took greyhounds to bait fighting dogs or to breed, thinking it would make the fighting dogs faster or quicker. It didn’t take long for the greyhounds to show up stray or in very bad circumstances. The following updates from Guam Animals In Need (GAIN) volunteers, Dave and Noni Davis, tells a vivid story of this immense tragedy. GAIN (the only animal rescue on the island) has now found these giveway greyhounds starved and even dead.
Around December 10, an agreement was reached with the track in which the remaining greyhounds would be adopted or relocated in accordance with GAIN policies and procedures. Exact numbers have been difficult to ascertain due to the lack of access to all of the greyhounds housed at the racetrack. It appears, however, that GAIN has received or picked up 49 greyhounds that are in their care, another 71 at the track have been sterilized are are waiting for relocation and there is an unknown number of unaltered dogs at the track whose future is dependent on decisions made by the track management. Most of these greyhounds need to come to the mainland for adoption in their “forever” homes.
So far GAIN has adopted 18 greyhounds locally and six are in foster care. As of February 19th, 42 greyhounds have been shipped via Continental Airlines to Los Angeles and are being cared for by Homestretch Greyhound Rescue and Adoption in Fillmore. Plans are in place for continuing shipments every three to five days until all of the greyhounds needing homes are safe. As dogs arrive they will be relocated to greyhound rescue groups throughout the west coast.
The enormity of this emergency and the heroic efforts of the GAIN volunteers is clearly evident when you consider the the size of Guam. The island, a U.S. territory, is about three times the size of Washington D.C. with a population of 175,000 people. Imagine a hundred greyhounds running loose. Imagine the future ecological catastrophe and public health problem when even a few surviving females come into heat.
For first hand accounts of the rescues taking place in Guam go to: Notes from the Front Lines
For photos of the greyhounds go to Northcoast Greyhounds' Guam Photo Diary
NEWS STORY Listen to the NPR affiliate KCLU news segment on the Guam Greyhounds in California.