ON HIS WAY HOME: After picking him up from the kennel, Folger drove Gus and all of his belongings to his new home with McGahon. “He’s in Austin with someone who I have a lot of love and respect for,” she said. “[This] means I can see him whenever I want.” Photo courtesy of Folger.
Three cats, a frog … and a dog
March 27, 2020
McGahon was the first person to reply.
“[When I saw the picture of Smith and Gus] I could tell she was sick and how much love he brought, and I melted,” she said. “We thought it would be cool to get a big dog, but we were thinking more like 60 or 70 pounds. So, when we found out about Gus, we were like ‘OK, what’s 100 more pounds?’”
McGahon sent the picture to her boyfriend, Phil O’Neill, who encouraged her to get more information before jumping into anything. She quickly set up meetings with Folger to express her interest in taking Gus home. With four pets already (three cats and a frog), she and O’Neill were worried that their home might be too full to accommodate such a large dog. After talking with Folger, however, they knew that Gus belonged with them.
“We sat with one another and talked about our philosophy with pets,” Folger said. “He had to be a part of the family. He has to be [treated like] a human because he is; he’s a giant part of everything that made Sawyer.”
While they were still working out details, Taylor Smith had to return to her home in Dallas, checking Gus into a kennel on the way. He did not stay there for long. The week before Halloween, Folger drove to Smith’s mother’s house to pick up all of Gus’s earthly possessions, checked him out of the kennel and drove him to his new forever home with McGahon, O’Neill, three cats and a frog.