Seeing aging dogs left on the street or put in a shelter is always heart breaking. Instead of spending their senior years in a loving home, they are often abandoned by everyone and don’t get to experience much joy. Luckily, there are still kind people like Knoxville-native, Sommerville Harris Culbertson, who are making an effort to change this.
Culbertson runs a “retirement village” for aging golden retrievers, providing them with a caring environment in which they can enjoy their final years on Earth. Since 2001, this warm-hearted woman has fostered over 40 dogs through her non-profit Adopt-A-Golden Knoxville.
“You can cry because they got put down alone at a shelter, or because they got to go trick-or-treating and have tea parties and eat more treats and popcorn than they can stand, and they went peacefully in their sleep. And I just prefer the latter,” – Culbertson told WBIR.
Culbertson also managed to pass her passion for helping aging dogs onto her daughter Jane, who does what she can to help out.
“She’s learned that there are dogs and humans out there who don’t have families, and we can help that,” – Culbertson explains.
While her time with the dogs doesn’t last long, Culbertson says she cherishes the opportunity to take care of them. If only more people would have the same mindset.
