They gathered in a circle, a small group of friends, to pay tribute to Boots, the black and white female cat that Brian had adopted from Rainbow Rescues four years ago as a senior cat of twelve. While older pets were hard to place in homes because people knew they wouldn’t have them long or be saddled with vet bills as the animals aged, Brian had fallen in love with Boots the second he saw her. She had become his sweet little girl. When she’d developed cancer, he’d spent the bulk of his assistant deputy’s salary on the surgery Dr. Graham had advised against. As predicted, the tumor in her stomach grew back in less than a year and spread to her chest. But at least Brian had tried. Realizing he could do nothing to stop her suffering but euthanize her, he had made that tough decision that pet
