The Providence Animal Center in Delaware County has a special program called the Angel Pet Program that's essentially hospice care for pets.
In 2017, the Zavodnick family of Wynnewood fostered a terminally ill dog — with only six months to live — for what was supposed to be one night.
Then 7-year-old Brody Zavodnick has insomnia and ADHD. That night, he curled up with the dog for a restful sleep.
"He was like me. He was unsure of everything at night and I hugged him and it made me feel better," Brody said.
"Here there was, this homeless dog that was unsure of life, clearly came form a scary place, and my son really struggles with sleep and needs reassurance and comfort at night. And here he didn't even make his way to me, he was like 'okay his dog really needs some love too,'" Brody's mother, Amanda said.
The dog was named Bauer. He never went back to the shelter and was adopted by the family.
Amanda entered the story in Petco's national holiday wishes contest, where adopters nominate shelters for grant money.
Providence Animal Center is among the winners. How much the organization gets will be announced next week.
"A lot of dogs and cats who have a terminal condition, they are usually euthanized because they are a drain on the shelter's resources. They are seen as really expensive and a pet that will probably not placed into a home because they are seen as unwanted and unloved," said the Providence Animal Center's Justina Calgiano. "And so we know that is not the case and so we are super grateful for families like Amanda's, who give a dog or a cat the opportunity to live as long as they have left."