On May 2nd, 1995, our beautiful basset hound, Gunner, was taken to a friend of a friend's house so he could be used as a stud dog. Later that afternoon, we were told that Gunner got out of her house and was missing. We were devastated, Gunner was part of the family and now he was gone. We took out picture ads in the local papers, searched for days and nights, ran a classified ad for 18 months, and even rented a small airplane to fly over the fields where he was last seen. We never saw him again.

In September 1995, a local dog warden called us to say he found a basset hound. We were thrilled thinking it might be Gunner. I went over there, only to find out it wasn't Gunner, but a big beautiful tri-colored basset that was homeless. They told me if no one claimed him by the next day, he would be euthanized. The next morning, I went there with a leash and collar and drove "Baxter" to his new forever home where he lived for 10 wonderful years.

When Baxter passed away November 10, 2005, I know that Gunner was waiting for him at the Rainbow Bridge. Baxter finally got to meet Gunner, the reason he was able to have 10 years with a family who adored him. Since Gunner went missing, between my parents and my husband and I, we have adopted 8 homeless bassets. We will continue to adopt and help basset rescue any way we can.

Please consider sponsoring Doc, Dudley, Don and I as we walk through Main Street of Fantasy Island to help homeless dogs like Gunner and to help dogs like Baxter that got a second chance at life.