Rebecca Li is fundraising
Memorial for Spot and Fundraiser for Tucson No-Kill Shelter
On Jan.30, 2026, Mr. Spot, the beloved puppy of Jingyi and Joseph, crossed the rainbow bridge peacefully, surrounded by love.
Please read this memorial on this StoryMap and review Spotie's cuteness.
Spot: A Memorial
https://arcg.is/b01jq0
With this memorial, we hope to raise more funds for the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, a no-kill animal shelter who rescued Spottie's biological mama, through which rescued Spottie's human mama and dada by bringing them the light of their lives. Please support their endeavors, and please help us remember Spot in this way.
You may notice that in many of these photos, Spot is sleeping. As aforementioned, he loved sleeping.
In LA, Spot was petted and loved by many people. Thank you to everyone who loved him back.
Living near a college, Spot quickly learned a universal truth: girls like cute guys. Without having to be taught, Spot learned to observe people's faces. He could tell who would be a potential target. Once the target was identified, Spot stood in the middle of the road to block their route.
This strategy worked every single time. The reaction from his victims was somehow the same every time: "OMG, he's so cute! <3" *pets him *gasps* "OMG, he's so soft!"
Yes, Spot was very soft. One might even say he's the softest Chihuahua mix on earth. This data is not verified, but we don't need to. He just was.
"You're lucky I love you… and am too lazy to do anything about it"
During the pandemic, mama had started crocheting. Poor Spot became mama's guinea pup. So in Nov 2025, mama finished Spottie's best-fitting and final sweater. He hated wearing sweaters, but still posed for mama.
Dior by Spot
In November, Spot started puking. At the time, it was diagnosed as allergy. Spot got on allergy medication, and as long as the pills were wrapped in peanut butter, he happily ate them. Spot was also put on a senior diet, and after that, the vomiting stopped.
"Cover me, human"
In January, Spot was healthy and happy. No sign of anything abnormal, although, while Daddy was away for a couple of days, he vomited again.
After that, mama noticed that Spot was eating slowly, which had never happened before. From Jan. 22 ish, Spot started coughing. Still had a great appetite and attitude. Every evening, he would yell at dada and mama so that we'd cover him with his favourite blanket. He'd bug us for treats, get excited for walkies. Everything seemed normal.
Jan. 27, Spot was still coughing, and his mucus seemed red-ish. He was walking noticeably slowly. Mama got very worried, so he got a routine check-up scheduled for Saturday, the 31st.
Jan. 29 in the morning, Spotie's poo-poo was black, indicating internal bleeding; his gums were pale, also indicating internal bleeding. So he got rushed to the ER. He did his tests and, even while sick, charmed all the doctors and nurses there.
Jan. 30 morning, his testing results came out. Mama spent all day reading about lymphoma. With limited knowledge, we got a vague idea that this was an extremely aggressive type of cancer. Before even meeting an oncologist the soonest we could schedule an appointment, we realized that all his numbers and radiology indicated late-stage gastrointestinal lymphoma.
Spot had under 72 hours from showing symptoms to his blood cell counts dropping under a critical level.
At night, after visiting Spot, the toughest decision of our lives was made to help him go peacefully and painlessly. He was surrounded by all of his loved ones (and George), and had a belly full of his favorite foods and the special bacon jerky from Daddy's hometown that he always begged for the most.
Currently, there is limited research information about canine T-cell GI lymphoma. Mama is not trained in veterinary science, but from existing scholarship, it seems that a lack of samples, short survival time of trial subjects, and lack of funding are the main reasons. Studies have found that the LOPP protocol has been the most effective for this type of lymphoma—assuming, of course, that there is even enough time between the diagnosis and the chemo taking effect, which in total could take several days. Much more research needs to be done, as does all cancer research.
With this memorial, we hope to raise more funds for the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, a no-kill animal shelter who rescued Spottie's biological mama, through which rescued Spottie's human mama and dada by bringing them the light of their lives. Please support their endeavors, and please help us remember Spot in this way.
GoFundMe link: https://gofund.me/3b52acd23
You've filled our hearts with joy beyond measure.
Spot
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