Car Rides, Swimming, Birthday Party & Christmas in July: Best Friends Create Bucket List for 19-Year-Old Foster Lab

When Annie arrived at Dallas Animal Services, she was weak and in poor condition, and veterinarians thought she would only have a month to live. To make sure that her last days were filled with love, Dallas Animal Services shared her story, and the outpouring of love for the pup was heartwarming.

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When Lauren Siler saw the post, she knew she had to find out how to get her.

“I then showed her picture to my roommate and best friend Lisa, who saw the picture and immediately said, ‘We have to get her,'” Siler told PEOPLE.

They contacted Dallas Animal Services about fostering the senior dog, and they were directed to The Pawerful Rescue which had taken over Annie’s care.

The rescue was transparent with the duo about Annie’s condition, but the timeline didn’t scare Siler and Flores. They fostered Annie intending to give “her the best dang month of her life,” according to PEOPLE.

They created a bucket list for the pup and started doing things that they thought she would love.

“We started with just a few things like a car ride, swimming, birthday party, Christmas in July, and it took off from there,” she adds.

As the month came to an end, it became clear that Annie wasn’t ready to go, so they started adding more items to the bucket list. Throughout this time, they documented the adventures of Annie and gained thousands of fans.

“She has had over 500 Valentines sent to her for Valentine’s Day in August, made paintings, been a chef and made homemade dog treats, hosted baby showers, gone on a hamburger tour, and so much more,” Siler told PEOPLE.

Her fans even started offering suggestions on what the senior dog should enjoy next.

The pup, who was supposed to live only one month more in June, is still happily going on adventures with her foster family.

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“We absolutely encourage others to foster. Without someone stepping up to foster, the sad reality is that these dogs are being put down daily because shelters are just simply overwhelmed. Annie is special to us, but not a unicorn. Hundreds of Annies are sitting in a shelter right now. Waiting for someone to step up and care for them,” Siler says.

Annie’s bucket list is still going as long as the pup still has energy and enjoys her adventures. To keep up with Annie, follow her on Instagram @dallasanimalfoster.

With an estimated 7.6 million animals entering America’s shelters every year, fostering is important because it helps reduce overcrowding in shelters and opens up space for other animals to be saved. It also helps prepare animals for adoption by giving them a chance to live in a home where they can fully express their personality, work to overcome fears, or recover from trauma.

Having foster animals around is hard work, but it is so rewarding and very fun! It is something that will keep you up at night and steal time out of your day. But you won’t regret a second of it! As a foster parent, you will be loving, raising, and caring for the kittens so that they can grow up and find their forever homes.

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