‘I Just Couldn’t Leave Her’: Man Adopts 10-Year-Old Dog With Terminal Cancer That Nobody Else Wanted

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“It’s a life lesson that I want to teach my son,” said Enoc Lopez after adopting a dog with terminal cancer from the Humane Society in Indianapolis. Despite the fact that the dog has a malignant melanoma and possibly only months left to live, Lopez couldn’t bear to walk away.

The dog, named Mocha, had waited in a kennel since April 2019 for a loving home.

“Something in me triggered,” Lopez told News 8. “I just couldn’t leave her.” The 10-and-a-half-year-old pooch was relinquished to the shelter after her owner passed away but had been overlooked by potential adopters for almost seven months.

Then Lopez and his 8-year-old son Allen came along. “We always expect to leave other people to do it, but sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands,” said Lopez.

Allen, whom Lopez adopted in 2017, explained how he felt when his dad welcomed Mocha into their home. “I’m kind of sad and happy at the same time,” said the boy. “I’m happy [...] I have tears in the inside.”

Mocha’s adoption entailed a necessary stepping stone for the senior dog; she had to meet Lopez’s other pup, a rescued, deaf dog named Amy. As luck would have it, they bonded well.

Dr. Stacey Shore, Lopez’s veterinarian at South 31 Veterinary Clinic, said she admired her client greatly. “He has got the biggest heart,” Shore said. “He is not just a pet lover, he is a pet enthusiast that we don’t have enough of in this world.”

Lopez added, “A lot of dogs out there need a good home. There’s a lot of kids in the foster care system that need a good home [too].”

Photo courtesy of Alan Wlasuk

According to animal experts, there are myriad perks to adopting a senior pet. Dr. Karen Becker of Healthy Pets believes senior pets are typically less high-energy and less destructive than young, untrained puppies or kittens. They are housebroken, they are socialized, and they are often very adaptable to new people and new environments.

Lauren Lipsey, director of rehoming at the Washington Humane Society, told NBC: “They’re true companion animals that have already had a family. Senior pets are typically quieter and calmer.”

While health issues are an inherent risk with senior pets, “[i]f a senior animal has a health problem, we address that and inform the adopter,” Lipsey explained.

Senior pets, especially those with health issues, still represent the least adoptable among shelter animals. However, stories like Lopez’s are inspiring animal lovers around the world to consider the wonderful qualities that an older pet could bring into an adoptive home.

World-famous dog-training expert Cesar Millan is an advocate for senior pets, too. They need homes just as badly as younger dogs do, they make instant companions, and adopting an older dog may very well save its life, Millan says on his website.

Since inviting Mocha to join the family, single father Enoc Lopez hopes she is able to live her best life for as long as she has left.

“She might not live for a long time, but at least she’ll be able to live in a big yard surrounded by people that will love and pet her, where she doesn’t need anything until that day comes,” he said. “But until then, make her comfortable and make her happy.”

“[I’m] very happy because she’s here,” Allen agreed, “because there’s so much life here.”

As for teaching his son about life, love, and responsibility, Lopez reflected: “Everything dies, but at the end, it’s the quality of the life you live that really matters.”