Roxie

Roxie, a 6-year-old Boxer, is a hero to all who know her. Roxie lives with her owner, Emily Quisling and Emily’s roommate, Sharon in Chippewa Falls.

Sharon was diagnosed with ovarian cancer over two years ago and receives chemotherapy treatments. The night of August 30, 2011 was not an average night in the Quisiling home.

Roxie usually sleeps in the living room but that night she slept on the floor next to Sharon’s bed. During the night, Sharon woke up to go to the bathroom and began to seizure. Roxie quickly ran to Sharon’s side and then went to alert Emily.

“She was running between the two rooms snorting, jumping in the air, and making all sorts of commotion until Emily got up to find Sharon lying on the bathroom floor,” explains Roxie’s veterinarian, Dr. Kristy Langhoff, Chippewa Veterinary Clinic, Chippewa Falls.

Emily was able to stabilize Sharon’s head until the seizures subsided.

Sharon’s seizures were a result of the chemotherapy drugs, causing low magnesium in her body. Roxie seems to know at other times when Sharon is not feeling well. She will sniff her excessively and pay extra attention to her.

Without Roxie’s attentiveness and action, it is unknown what the outcome of Sharon’s seizure would have been.

Bailey

Bailey, an 11-year-old Labrador from Madison, is not your typical pet. Bailey has very important traits which have enabled him to be truly special.

His owner, Tom Cunningham, has a hereditary eye disease, Retinitis Pigmentosa. Bailey guides Tom every day to avoid injury and danger. Bailey has provided countless hours of service to Tom over the past nine years.

“But even this is not the most remarkable thing about Bailey,” says Bailey’s veterinarian, Dr. Peter Janssen, Janssen Clinic for Animals, Middleton.

Dr. Janssen has witnessed Bailey on- and off-duty. When Bailey goes to the veterinary clinic, his leader harness is removed. He is then “at liberty.”

“At that time it becomes obvious what those traits are that make Bailey so special,” continues Dr. Janssen.

Bailey gives enthusiastic greetings and displays true Labrador instincts. When he sees another dog in the clinic or a squirrel outside, it is a chore to keep him on the exam table, but when Bailey’s harness goes back on, he is all about business.

“What Bailey is displaying then are the traits of conscientiousness and remarkable self-control,” says Dr. Janssen.

Bailey is conscientious about the important work he provides to Tom every day and that makes him a well deserving inductee to the Wisconsin Pet Hall of Fame.