After enduring Florence, an amputation and cancer, bad-luck beagle hears wedding bells
The bride wore white. A lovely gown of taffeta and tulle with a simple lace headpiece. The groom sported a gray tuxedo jacket — no bottoms — with a purple plaid tie.
When they walked down the aisle, those in attendance howled their approval.
They literally howled.
It was the wedding of Rogers and Marge, two beagles fostered by the Triangle Beagle Rescue (tribeagles.org), a nonprofit group based in Raleigh. The canine nuptials fulfilled a bucket list wish for Rogers (according to his TBR caregivers), a 6-year-old Hurricane Florence rescue pup who has had his share of hard knocks.
Rogers and his friend Miguel were rescued when their shelter in Pollocksville, N.C., flooded during last summer’s storms. He was taken in by Triangle Beagle Rescue, which discovered that he didn’t even know what toys were for. He was treated for heartworm but also had problems with his back left leg, likely from an old injury. The leg had to be amputated, but Rogers bounced back.
Then other mysterious symptoms popped up, and Rogers was eventually diagnosed by veterinarians at the N.C. State Veterinary Hospital as having transitional cell carcinoma in his urinary tract. It’s an aggressive form of bladder cancer.
After that, Rogers was taken off the adoption list and he’ll live out his life as a hospice foster, marking experiences off the bucket list that his foster family drew up for him: car rides, a camping trip, lots of Starbucks puppuccinos, and marrying his best friend Marge.
Marge, a stray from Person County, met the younger Rogers at an adoption event and the two instantly bonded.
“Before we knew he had cancer, they were both together at adoption events and they just always wanted to be together and snuggle together,” said Leann Tenbusch, a Triangle Beagle Rescue board member. “Their fosters are friends so they have sleepovers when one of the fosters goes out of town and they see each other a lot.”
Marge is available for adoption.
The wedding took place Sunday at the Compass Rose Brewery in Raleigh, attended by a large crowd of people and their dogs. The ceremony was officiated by Dan Savarese. Marge and Rogers exchanged collars.
After a reception, which included treats from On Point Pupcakes, the couple spent a night getting spoiled at the dog-friendly Embassy Suites in Cary.
They were chaperoned.
Triangle Beagle Rescue
More info: tribeagles.org
On social media: Twitter (@TriBeagles); Instagram (@tribeagles); Facebook (facebook.com/tribeagles).
This story was originally published June 10, 2019 at 2:41 PM.
