TOP: Velvet, unable to breathe, in oxygen tank
MIDDLE: Velvet recovered and enjoying Christmas
BOTTOM: Gloria, the Where The Love Is volunteer
We sometimes says it’s “a miracle” when our most challenging dogs get adopted. And, in many ways, it is miraculous when we see them go to a loving home.
But, can one shelter dog’s “miracle” lead to sainthood for a world-renowned Catholic priest? You’re about to find out.
Flashback to September 2023. 11-year-old Velvet was brought to a New York City animal shelter after his owner died. A few days after he arrived, the shelter experienced a ferocious outbreak of pneumonia which infected Velvet and many other dogs at the shelter. He and his kennel mates were severely sick and faced euthanasia unless they were rescued.
Melissa Gillespie, executive director of the Long Island-based Pioneers for Animal Welfare Society Inc. (PAWS) heard about Velvet and set out to save him. PAWS pulled Velvet from the shelter and transported him directly to a Long Island veterinarian. Velvet was hospitalized for four days, but his conditioned worsened and he was brought to an emergency hospital. Because he could not breathe on his own, he was immediately placed in an oxygen tank.
Each morning brought another heartbreaking update from the ER doctors and another suggestion that Velvet be euthanized. Velvet, they said, was old, could not breathe outside the tank on his own, and the expenses were mounting.
“But I saw that he was fighting to live every day,” Melissa said. “I said, ‘Let’s give him some more time in the oxygen tank.’”
While Velvet was fighting to live, Melissa was praying for him. Three days after PAWS rescued the dog, Melissa said she was walking to work one morning, she thought of Father Michael McGivney.
Father Michael McGivney was a Connecticut priest who served Waterbury, New Haven, and Thomaston in the second half of the 19th century. He’s most well-known for founding the Knights of Columbus, a service society which is headquartered in New Haven and works to further Father McGivney’s mission of helping and comforting those in need.
“I don’t know why he entered my mind at that minute, but he did,” Melissa said. “I started praying to him. I asked my colleagues to start praying to him, requesting his intercession. I kneeled on the floor next to my desk and prayed to him [to save Velvet].” Melissa was familiar with Father McGivney because just a few weeks prior, the deacon at her church had discussed the priest and his need for miracles to be canonized. After researching the priest, she learned that Father McGivney’s Feast Day was August 13, the same day that Velvet took ill and that Father McGivney had died of pneumonia. The coincidences were eerie.
Velvet remained in the oxygen tank for seven days, taking baby food off a tongue depressor from two vet techs from the first hospital as he had such a profound impact on them that they drove out of their way almost daily to help feed him, ER technicians, Melissa, and other PAWS volunteers. “We saw his fight to live in his eyes,” Melissa said. On the seventh day, a new emergency-room veterinarian said that Velvet needed to be removed from the oxygen tank and taken off IV fluids for a bit despite what his oxygen levels read. He was taken outside where, while still extremely weak, he walked around and breathed on his own. He had to be returned to the oxygen tank; the next night, however, he was discharged. He was placed into the home of a PAWS foster family where he remained on antibiotic and began to put on weight.
“Sixteen months later, Velvet is alive and well, thanks to Father McGivney’s intercession,” Melissa said. “We know in our hearts Father Michael McGivney put his hands over Velvet and brought him through this,” Melissa said. “We are forever grateful for his intercession on Velvet’s behalf.”
That gratitude led Melissa to write an email to the Blessed Father McGivney Guild at the Knights of Columbus in New Haven to describe the miracle she witnessed. In addition, when another PAWS volunteer heard about Velvet’s miraculous recovery from Melissa, he picked up the phone and called the Guild, not knowing that Melissa had already emailed her testimony.
Long-time Where the Love Is volunteer Gloria picked up that call. As an administrative assistant at the Guild, she’s no stranger to miracles. To qualify for Sainthood in the Catholic Church, one must have two confirmed miracles. Father McGivney’s first miracle, the healing of a baby in utero, was approved by Pope Francis in 2020. Gloria encouraged PAWS to share their story in hopes that Velvet may be the second miracle.
The PAWS volunteer described his conversation with Gloria as “warm, genuine, receptive and helpful.” He said it led him to write a second email, this time to Brian Caulfield the Vice Postulator for Sainthood Cause of Blessed Father Michael McGivney. While the bar for what qualifies as a miracle is high, Gloria, Melissa and the PAWS volunteer maintain Velvet’s recovery “absolutely demonstrates the power of faith.”
The foster family, a retired couple, has adopted Velvet and he continues to be a part of the PAWS family, most recently attending a fundraiser as a guest of honor in the summer where Melissa shared “the miraculous intervention of Father McGivney.”
“Velvet came into our lives quite unexpectedly and has been a blessing ever since,” said one of his owners, Maureen. “He is the best example of giving a senior dog his right to life. He is such a perfect companion for my husband, John, and myself, both senior citizens. By the way, my grandchildren are so in love with him that they want sleepovers with him. We all love him and are so over the moon to share our lives with him!”
