Support for Magoo's best friend, in his loving memory

Our hearts were broken on September 14th at 1:23 am. My best friend, an 8-year-old Saint Bernard mix named Magoo, was taken away from all who loved him. There were so many who did.

I adopted Magoo from a rescue in NYC in March of 2018, not long after the passing of my son’s father in December of 2017. He was rescued from being abused, tied up outside in a junkyard in NJ. Magoo was 15 months old. He didn’t know any commands like sit or stay or no. Magoo never lived in a house, so he wasn’t house-trained. Underweight at 94 pounds, not only did this boy need to eat better; He needed love. Love that I never thought would be so easy to give to him.

And I never expected the love Magoo would give in return. It was immeasurable.

Magoo had always been in good health, no concerning issues. Never missed a vet check-up. Unfortunately, this changed on September 11th after 2 days of not wanting to eat. I brought Magoo to his vet where they revealed that his heart rate was very elevated, and his breathing began to labor. An x-ray was done, which then revealed that Magoo’s heart was so enlarged that it took up about 75% of his chest cavity. Dilated cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure was suspected, and I needed to immediately take him to the emergency vet/hospital. His hospital stay started that evening, immediately placing him on IV medications to help him.

Magoo was stabilized on September 12th, and we were planning to bring him home that evening, albeit on tons of medications that he would most likely need for the rest of his life. Some later tests that revealed slightly elevated liver and kidney levels, Magoo’s doctors wanted him to stay at the hospital one more night for precaution.

On the morning of Friday September 13th, Magoo was stable, so again we were hoping to bring him home. In the afternoon of that same day, his condition deteriorated unexpectedly, and very quickly, as his blood pressure kept bottoming out and he could not be stabilized again.

We left our sweet boy when hospital visiting hours were over at 10pm, not knowing if he would make it overnight. Magoo’s doctor called me at 1:23 am on Saturday, September 14th, to let us know our best friend was gone.

Not ever truly really realizing the impact that Magoo had on our lives, this loss is incredibly painful. Magoo gave us so much happiness and light after a period of very dark times. This sweet dog, who never needed any training when we brought him home (having no obedience or housebreaking training when adopted), became a de facto therapy dog all on his own. He loved hugs and would let you hang on him and cry for as long as you needed.

Magoo loved his friends, and he had so many of them. He loved his friends at Blue Point Brewing, in our neighborhood, and at the local farm down the street that had Tuesday open mic nights. He loved his ducks, live music, pizza, walking trails in the woods, being at the beach, MLB and MiLB baseball games, and road trips. He was the life of the party, and everyone loved him. Everyone.

It pains me to even need to write this, but as you can imagine the cost to try and save his life was expensive. And that cost had to be paid up-front for Magoo to receive the care he needed. Loved ones helped me to cover that cost so he could receive treatment, but I am humbly asking for help so I can possibly repay those loved ones who were so generous.

If Magoo ever put a smile on your face, I’m sure he would be incredibly grateful if you could help his best friend recover from losing him. And his best friend will be eternally grateful for your love and kindness.