Sarah Launch and Kelly Michael rescued 5-year-old Roosevelt from the Chicago Animal Care and Control after he was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer.
She has no idea how his first five years of life were, but she is convinced that the next six months will be amazing!
After getting a call from her friend Kelly Michael, Sarah, an executive producer at Comcast, fostered Roosevelt AKA Roo.
“We sensed something wasn’t right, but we couldn’t figure out what.” “She called to tell he only had six months,” Lauch gasped out.
“We’re going to make it the finest six months of his life,” the two resolved.
So the two prepared a wish list for him and videotaped and shared his story on social media using the hashtag #LiveLikeRoo to urge other people to take their dogs on adventures.
They tried their best to satisfy all of his dying demands, including obtaining therapeutic massages, dining at Taco Bell, and getting ice cream, which was his favorite snack.
They take him to Tastee Freeze for ice cream, he goes trekking in Starved Rock State Park, and he even eats meat, despite Kelly’s hesitation to do so.
Roo does not appear to be unwell and is highly active.
“At Starved Rock, we probably walked three kilometres,” she added. “He was the one who led the way. He was always seeking for a way to go ahead of the pack…. You’d never think he was unwell.”
Roo’s story has supposedly gone viral around the country, and he has garnered a lot of attention.
“All we want is for people to know about Roo and his story,” Lauch added.
Others claim to have been inspired by the pair to take their dogs on more adventures and to live each day as if it were their last.“Everyone assumes you’re depressed all of the time,” Lauch added. “However, he has no idea, yet dogs can sense how you are feeling.”
Nobody knows how long Roo will live, so the two are taking things day by day.
“He has no idea he’s going to die,” Lauch added. “So we just go with it and give him everything he wants,” adds the narrator. It’ll be difficult in the end, but for now, we’re trying not to think about it.”