Chance Edward Murray

I first met Chance about 10 years ago as a small dog chained to a pole on the blacktop in front of a residence on Holmes Street, with no food, shelter or water on a 99 degree hot summer day. I stopped my vehicle to check on him and a gruff man appeared.

I said, "Sir, can I bring your pup a dog house to help keep him out of the sun, provide some shade for him?"

He said, "That d*** dog doesn’t deserve a house."

This saddened me and I called Animal Control to report this horrible situation. I kept driving by, but I never saw the dog tied out there again. In a few months the house was boarded up and condemned.

I was volunteering at our local Humane Society then, and one day, I looked in a kennel, and there he was. The poor Holmes Street dog that had suffered so greatly. I got a leash and attempted to take him on a walk, and he promptly bit the leash in two and ran scared back into the kennel. I scooped him up, put him in my truck, and we went to McDonald’s to get a plain cheeseburger. I took a chance on him either eating me or becoming my best friend. He became my best friend -- the best "Chance" I ever took.

Chance and Barbara resting at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort following a protest against animal cruelty.