RIP Max Ingersoll, 5 kgs born in 2008, who came to us in October 22 
He was a seizure by council after a neighbour reported he and another little dog were living in a two-metre compound in absolute filth. Max and the other little dog fought all the time, probably over food, and could not get away from each other. We are so grateful to our carers who take on these little guys whom we know sometimes will not go anywhere and become part of our Safe Haven Stayers. Sadly, Max left us on Monday. His carer, who loved him dearly, writes below:
My little man Max, came for the weekend, unpacked his bags and never left. He was so thin, had no muscles to support him, walked with the tiniest of steps, had a thin coat and his tail went sideways. I learnt of his horrible past and that he had put on a lot of weight and his coat was thicker now. My heart broke to think of what condition he must have been found in. I was honoured that VicDRG trusted me with this little man and vowed to him that all would be great from now on, because he had all of us looking out for him.
Max wasn’t overly trusting to start off with, which was understandable, but he was ready to be by my side all the way on the road to recovery and beyond. Together we did physio, went to all the Dr appointments and built a bond of trust that only we knew. Max grew stronger and loved every little thing that life brought to him. He was soon out and about lapping up everything he could. He was a pure gentleman when out and about and he was welcome everywhere. He made friends wherever he went, with many asking to say hello. He was my copilot in the car and in life. If I turned up without him, I was always asked where he was. He had his regular friends that he would say hello to at certain places. Many didn’t know his story, but they were drawn to him for the little man he was today.
Max did keep some of those horrible scars from his past and they sometimes gave him some trouble in life, together we worked through them and at the end of the day we always rested our bodies and heads with a smile on our faces.
Max loved chasing the magpies. He would call for them if they didn’t come for their daily feed. He loved going to parks and getting all the information on who had been there and he loved eating everything that was not on his special diet. So together last weekend we spent the whole weekend doing just those things. We went to all our places, did zoomies up and down the hallway like we’d lost our marbles, ate a Bunnings sausage breakfast, steak sandwiches and too many hamburgers. We visited all our parks and collected the latest information until we couldn’t walk anymore.
We said goodbye in his favourite part of the garden before heading off over the rainbow bridge where I know he can do zoomies forever and chase all the maggies to his heart’s desire.
Thank you VicDRG for trusting me with this little man, Thank you Max for trusting me to keep you safe. In my mind and in my heart we will forever walk together.