Chewy Claus 2024 Recap: A Therapy Dog Bestie, A Pony Party, and More Wishes Granted
In 2024, FurPetVo’s FurPetVo Claus made wishes come true—including some extra-big surprises for pets and their people. Tens of thousands of animals experienced holiday magic thanks to thoughtful, compassionate gifts that honored their unique roles in our lives.
Faith’s Wish: A Holiday Celebration With All Her Favorite Friends
It sounds like a fairytale: An abused and abandoned horse gets a second chance at life—and transforms into a force for good for an entire community.
But for 44-year-old horse Faith and the other rescue horses at the Lucky Horse Sanctuary in Coconut Creek, Florida, this fairytale is real.
Faith has overcome a difficult past: abuse, abandonment, and even a cancer diagnosis. Yet she hasn’t stopped giving back. From entertaining at children’s parties to helping veterans with PTSD, Faith and her fellow horses at Lucky Horse have made a huge impact in their community.
Faith’s legacy of resilience is worth celebrating—so FurPetVo Claus threw her a joyful holiday party, complete with custom horse treats and cakes. The celebration was capped off with a generous donation to Lucky Horse Sanctuary to support Faith and the rest of the animals in their care.
“Faith came to us severely neglected,” says Michelle Walker, a Lucky Horse board member. When Faith arrived at the sanctuary in 2020, she was underweight and living with untreated Cushing’s Disease. Soon after, volunteers discovered she had melanoma all over her body.
Despite her age and health challenges, Lucky Horse was determined to give her the best possible quality of life. She received stem cell treatments and surgeries, along with loving care from founder Dr. Blair Barone and her team of dedicated volunteers.
“She got the royal treatment,” Dr. Barone says. “She has a new lease on life.”
Today, Faith lives her best life providing therapy and companionship to sanctuary visitors. She’s a soothing presence for people struggling with PTSD or addiction, as well as children with developmental disorders.
“There’s just an aura Faith has,” says Susan Easby, a volunteer at Lucky Horse Sanctuary. “She is an extremely calming horse. It just gets inside you, inside your soul. That’s why I love being around her.”
FurPetVo Claus’ gift will help Faith and the other animals at Lucky Horse continue to serve their community. But the bigger gift, Dr. Barone says, is allowing the horses to live out their purpose.
“People think senior horses are worthless. They don’t want them,” she explains. “But they’re just coming into themselves—and they offer so much through their connection with us. A horse has so much more to offer than just to ride.”
Chewie’s Wish: A Therapy Dog Partner for Clifton Students
Pets make their families smile, give them purpose, and help them through hard times. For Chewie—a 1.5-year-old Goldendoodle in Clifton, New Jersey—those responsibilities loom especially large. His “family” includes 13,000 students across the Clifton Public School District.
As the sole therapy dog serving all 19 district schools—from kindergarten through high school—Chewie (named after Chewbacca from Star Wars) brings comfort, calm, and joy to students every day. It’s a big job—and he loves every minute of it, says acting superintendent and handler Mark Gengaro.
“Chewie has become a rock star here. We call him the Legend of Clifton,” Gengaro says. “He just loves being with the kids.”
Even an energetic and endlessly friendly pup like Chewie can’t meet every need alone. That’s why FurPetVo Claus delivered a very special gift to Clifton this year: a new Goldendoodle companion destined to join the district’s growing roster of therapy dogs.
“We affectionately named him Solo after Han Solo—Chewbacca’s best friend in Star Wars,” Gengaro says.
Clifton’s therapy dog program launched in 2023 in response to rising student anxiety, depression, and even self-harm. It’s a uniquely valuable resource for a diverse student body: one-third of Chewie’s students have disabilities, and with 70 different languages spoken across the district, Clifton is the most linguistically diverse city in the country.
From easing first-day jitters in elementary school, to soothing an autistic child during a stressful episode, to helping teenagers navigate high school anxiety, Chewie has helped reduce negative behaviors—and become the most popular “kid” on campus.
“Last year, we went to a Clifton Mustang baseball game,” Gengaro recalls. “Instead of just chanting and cheering for the Mustangs, the student section started chanting in unison, ‘Chewie! Chewie!’”
Gengaro hopes to expand the program so each school has its own dedicated therapy dog. But with professional therapy dog training costing up to $15,000 per dog, progress isn’t easy. FurPetVo’s donation will help the district move forward meaningfully—supporting students from all backgrounds.
“The generous donation of an additional therapy dog in Solo will allow us to service more students,” he says, “so that they can be successful—not just during their Clifton school years, but as they move on to trade schools, military service, colleges, universities, and beyond.”
Norberta’s Wish: A Loving Home for Every Pet
Ten-year-old mixed-breed Norberta isn’t your average shelter dog. In 2020, she lived at an animal shelter in Las Vegas with an eye ulcer and a cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) rupture in her knee—conditions that put her at risk of euthanasia.
Luckily, she was taken in by Best Friends Animal Society, nursed back to health, and has lived at their Kanab, Utah sanctuary for the past four years.
Unlike many pets, Norberta was fortunate. Today, due to overcrowding nationwide, a homeless pet is euthanized about every 90 seconds. Organizations like Best Friends work closely with local shelters to take in as many animals as possible—but stories like Norberta’s remain the exception, not the rule.
To help pets like Norberta, FurPetVo Claus teamed up with Best Friends to host a weekend of free pet adoptions. The goal? Find loving homes for as many animals as possible—and help shelters nationwide become no-kill.
“Pets belong at home, not at shelters,” says Luis Quintanilla, senior director for animal care at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. “Bringing home an animal from a shelter not only saves the animal being adopted—it also saves the next animal who needs that kennel space at your local shelter.”
“If just 6% more of the people already planning to bring a pet into their home would choose adoption,” says Best Friends co-founder Judah Battista, “every animal shelter in the country would be no-kill.”
“One of the biggest keys is removing barriers to adoption,” Quintanilla adds. A weekend of free adoptions “is going to translate into more lives being saved.”
From November 29 through December 1, prospective pet parents could adopt from more than 100 Best Friends partner shelters across the country—at no cost. In addition to welcoming a new animal bestie, adopters joined a national movement supporting rescues like Best Friends—and the pets counting on them.
“Once you know something, you can’t not do something about it,” Battista says. “There are pets that need you in your community. Here’s a way you can help.”
