Dying Massachusetts man, 63, with no family makes desperate plea for help rehoming his beloved elderly dog

A Massachusetts man made a desperate plea to help rehome his beloved elderly dog, after being given six months to live. 

David Fine, from Plainville, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last August leaving him with a mission to find a new home for his beloved pooch Babs.

Fine, 63, told WJAR that Babs walked into his life a decade ago after being given up twice before a friend took her in, and then asked him to keep her in his garage.

It was after this that the two became inseparable with Fine telling the outlet that Babs, a Shar Pei Boxer mix, is 'the most important thing at this point'. 

Fine said: 'I had told myself I was never going to get another pet because it breaks my heart to lose them. Fortunately, she’s going to outlive me this time.'

Fine told WJAR that Babs walked into his life a decade ago after being given up twice before a friend took her in, and then asked him to keep her in his garage 

Fine hopes to find someone local to him so that he can work with them to help transition her into a new home 

After retiring as a carpenter in 2020, Fine and Babs set out on his lifelong dream to travel.

The pair traveled to see Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota and while in Wyoming some 100 miles from Yellowstone, the number one place he wanted to visit, he fell ill. 

He said: 'It was my lifelong dream. I planned for 30 years or more. I was going to buy a truck, camper, and I’m going to see the national parks. In 2020 I pulled the trigger.

'I took Bab's with me, I had a Cheshire green smile on my face the whole week I was there. 

'And I got sick. I started feeling bad, so sick that I couldn’t drive. I wasn't comfortable driving.'

In the years before the trip, he was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and underwent treatment.

One year after that, he had a vascular disease in his legs which had caused a number of his arteries to shut down. 

Fine continued: 'Then last August I started having problems. I was feeling pain in my chest. 

'It took about four months to figure out what it was, they came up with stage four lung cancer. The treatments would be brutal and wouldn't give me much time.

'I chose quality over quantity. The type of cancer this is, it is going to want to spread. 

'Then we call it quits, we check into a hospice, give up the dog and that's going to probably kill me.'

Babs needs to be the only pet in the house, and would benefit from there being no small children

After retiring as a carpenter in 2020, Fine and Babs set out on his lifelong dream to travel

Despite the diagnosis, Fine remains positive about it, saying: 'I’m alright with it. I came to terms with it, It is what it is. 

'I can try to extend things, but the chemo would make me sick by the time I got better from one treatment it would be time for the next one. That’s no way to live.'

Now determined to find Babs a new home before his passing, he reached out to a local veterans program before a Facebook post went viral with his last wish. 

Fine added: 'We are attached at the hip, when I don't come home she is going to know it. I'd like to find someone like me. It's like trying to find a home for your child. 

'She is the most important thing at this point, my fate is sealed but hers is not. So I got to make sure she gets as many good years out of the rest of her life as I can.'

Fine hopes to find someone local to him so that he can work with them to help transition her into a new home. 

He has never married and has no children of his own and asked extended family members to take her but can't as they have their own pets. 

Determined to find Babs a new home before his passing, he reached out to a local veterans program before a Facebook post went viral with his last wish

He has never married and has no children of his own and asked extended family members to take her but can't as they have their own pets

David Fine, from Plainville, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last August leaving him with a mission to find a new home for his beloved pooch Babs

Babs needs to be the only pet in the house, and would benefit from there being no small children.  

According to Fine Babs is extremely intelligent, well behaved and bathroom trained and also loves to sleep in a human bed but doesn't do well with stairs. 

He added: 'I’d like to find somebody like me, someone that wants a companion to greet you at the door, when you come in be happy to see you.

'Nobody is going to be good enough, I hate to say that because it makes me sound like I’m better than everybody else, but it’s like trying to find a home for your child.

'Every time I picture her leaving in the back window of a car saying, 'What’s going on?' Where am I going and why aren’t you coming with me?'

'I just can’t do it, I can't, but I’m going to have to at some point. Everybody dies, there are things I wanted to get done. I still want to see Yellowstone. 

'I don't think I’ll make it there at this point, financially it would be tough, other than that I need to do this for her. Then I can rest in peace when the time comes, but I’m not ready to go yet.'