By now most of you have heard the Belle story a number of times and can probably recite the highlights. But in telling it again we hope your hearts will be touched.

Belle was a senior dog whose owners dumped her instead of giving her the last golden days of life...nor did they grace her with basic medical care. Belle was the sweetest dog with big doe eyes and a honey colored coat. I suspect she had been under appreciated for a number of years, but even her filth could not hide the great dog within. Her mouth was rotten...she was the reason I coined the phrase "jungle mouth", there was just no other way to describe the decay of both tooth and flesh in her mouth. Her collar was so ragged it had hair growing into it and had to be cut off. When I cut off that awful collar I felt like I was cutting off shackles and freeing her. While slipping on a soft new collar felt like claiming her as our own. Poor Belle stunk...a lot of that was her teeth, but it had been ages since she had a decent bath. When a dog is that dirty you know it is not getting much in the way of affection. The worst news was the old girl was in major kidney failure which had been ignored. When she started to suddenly pee in the house, her family did not ask "Why?" they kicked her old butt outside...permanently. When she started to bark because she was hot and lonely they called us to take her away. Judy reported Belle left her home of several years without a goodbye pat from her owners. Judy also said Belle never looked back. Belle came to us in the middle of the hottest days of the year. Had she remained where she was she would have added heat stroke to her list of woes. Unfortunately her years of casual "when it is convenient" care from her owners cost her dearly.

After she returned to us she only lived a couple weeks. In those weeks, however she did receive all the love and attention we could give. She slept on a clean bed in front of the air conditioner bought for her comfort. She waded in the pool and lounged on the grass. Belle ate whatever food she wanted, KFC chicken tenders, beef heart, eggs, oatmeal. She wasn't being finicky, she felt awful and although she was hungry food just did not taste good to her. If she wanted my dinner I happily gave it to her and ate cold cereal. While Belle was busy dying we were busy hoping she could somehow recover...praying for that miracle that did not come. We raised funds for her and the phone wires seemed to buzz with news of Belle. The whole group fell in love with this one single old wore out hound. When she died many of us felt a great sense of loss. She was the one who got help too late. It was hard not to feel the pain of playing the "What if..." game. It was a harsh reminder of what can happen even after we think we have them securely in LOVING homes. It renewed our commitment to all greyhounds. After she died we wanted to honor her memory in some way. We had raised money for Belle's care, we decided to put that money in a separate fund and use it for special needs dogs.

So that is the history of the Belle Toll. Here is the future of the Belle Toll. The Belle Toll monies are still set aside to help foster dogs who have special needs. Dogs like Lance, Wyatt and Dima...and of course our silly Waldo. It is also used for the senior dogs we rescue. Often their vet care exceeds the adoption donation. Some of the seniors we have been able to help into homes are Babe (Easy Goss), Sylvia (Gracious Syliva), Timber and Leeta (Mals Lead On) The Belle Toll fund has also been used on occasion to help a family who has a dire greyhound emergency beyond their ability to pay. We are limited on what we can do....but with your generous donation we can help more dogs. As Valentines Day approaches what better time to celebrate your greyhound sweetheart. We ask that you consider a tax deductible donation. Not only to honor Belle but also to honor your own sweetheart-hound. A chance to celebrate each year of their lives by donating a single dollar (or more) for each year of your dogs life. Don't think you can't celebrate with us if your pooch isn't a greyhound...or even if you want to celebrate by counting your own years. If you did not get info in the mail....you can send a donation to...

Belle Toll

C/O Trish Olsen, 9 Grand Ave., Billings, MT 59101-6018

Make check payable to "GPARM"

Please tell us what hound you are honoring so we can celebrate with you.

I heartfelt thanks to those of you who already have paid the 2008 Belle Toll!!