Meet Chester – a senior statesman dog from an animal rescue with terminal cancer, who is going to live a pampered dog’s dream thanks to the Columbus woman who’s fostering him through his final days. 
 
 Meet Chester – a senior statesman dog from an animal rescue with terminal cancer, who is going to live a pampered dog’s dream thanks to the Columbus woman who’s fostering him through his final days. 
 
 After several weeks of pampering to his hearts content, Chester the dog with terminal cancer has died. Chester was adopted by a Columbus woman who wanted to give him the best of everything in his final days. 
 
 After several weeks of pampering to his hearts content, Chester the dog with terminal cancer has died. Chester was adopted by a Columbus woman who wanted to give him the best of everything in his final days. 
 
 Meet Chester - a senior dog who's going out living the good life after being rescued from a high-kill shelter earlier this year. (Source: Nicole Elliott) 
 
 COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) – Meet Chester – a senior statesman dog from an animal rescue with terminal cancer who is going to live a pampered dog’s dream thanks to the Columbus woman who’s fostering him through his final days. 
 
 Meet Nicole Elliott, the 24-year-old mom and animal foster parent who is caring for Chester. She picked him up from Animal Ark, a nonprofit animal rescue, where they told her of his fate. 
 
 "He wasn't in the best shape. They bathed him and shaved away all of the matted, dirty hair. They found a very large tumor on his side, and had it removed. Since then they have shown up all over his body," Elliott said. 
 
 Elliott says Chester’s history is mostly unknown before April 2015, when Animal Ark rescued him from a high-kill shelter in Columbus after his owners dropped him off there. Chester is a senior dog, about 13 or 14 years old. 
 
 She said her love of animals and their care, stemming from her upbringing, is what made her choose to foster Chester after finding him on an animal rescue's Facebook page. 
 
 "I was scrolling through, and saw a post with a before and after picture, and ‘hospice needed’ as the title. I had to think hard about if I could handle this since I have a young daughter, and my Grandma just passed away," Elliott said. "I slept on it, and woke up knowing it was the right thing to do. I knew that it would be my responsibility to make his final days the best I could, to mine and his ability. I arrived before the shelter opened, and they let me in to get him. I fell in love the moment I saw him." 
 
 Through that, a bucket list-style last walk around this dog park of life would be the way Chester would go out. Elliott started his Facebook page on June 28. 
 
 "I told them I was going to make him a bucket list, and keep them updated on Facebook. After the first update it had so many shares, and comments. I am so overwhelmed with all of the love and support. It has really brought this need to the light. I hope it helps other animals like Chester,” Elliott said. 
 
 Through her fosterhood, she started Chester’s Final Journey on Facebook, introducing Chester to the world. For Elliott, she wants to shed light on the care, comfort and love senior animals like Chester need – especially when they are sick. 
 
 "Chester is my new foster,” Elliott wrote in her initial Facebook post. "I saw a post about him needing a hospice for his remaining days. I had to consider it for a while and decide if I could handle it. I decided it would be an amazing experience to take on. It will be so tough to lose him shortly, so I decided to take the time he has left and make it as happy as I can. Today he has many cancerous lumps all over his body. He is also heart worm positive. He is still so sweet and as perky as he could be. I am wanting to do a sort of bucket list for Sweet Chester and give him and awesome final ride. I am open to suggestions and ideas." 
 
 She said for his first bucket list item, she took Chester on a shopping spree for toys and other goodies. The day of shopping his paws off ended with an oatmeal milk bath. 
 
 “He really enjoyed the bath,” she wrote. 
 
 Elliott says she hasn’t churned out an entire bucket list for Chester, but she has a few ideas she for sure wants to do. 
 
 “I had to sort of get a feel for what he was capable of,” Elliott said. “I am taking it a day at a time and trying to give him normal doggy experiences that he may have never had the chance to do before, and a ton of spoiling. So far he took a ride with the windows down, he had a famous Nathans hot dog, he had a doggie sundae, he had a milk and oatmeal bath (spa day), he went on a shopping spree where he got a cozy bed, bandannas, lots of treats, and toys. Out of all of that his favorite part has been any of the food and treats - he still has a HUGE appetite!” 
 
 She has other plans for Chester that include a dinner at a nice restaurant, a day at the beach and a birthday party at the animal rescue with his four-legged friends. 
 
 She says Chester’s care isn’t too taxing on her, and is minimal. 
 
 "He has no different needs medically since his status is terminal," Elliott said. "There is no estimate on time that I will be blessed with Chester, but he still has very perky moments and he loves to terrorize my kitties. He doesn't seem to be in much pain, but he is slow due to his age." 
 
 Ultimately, Elliott said that she and veterinarians would do what’s best for Chester – even if that requires peacefully putting him to sleep if his pain becomes unbearable, lessening his quality of life. 
 
 "As long as we keep his pain at bay, and he keeps eating and drinking, then he will hopefully be home until the end," Elliott said. 
 
 But until then, Chester is rolling in the love and affection that Elliott is giving him – and may his final days be filled with squeaky toys, mud puddles and treats piled high. 
 
 You can follow Chester’s journey on the Chester’s Final Journey on Facebook by clicking here and on Instagram by clicking here. Since beginning the page on June 28, the page has ballooned to more than 25,000 likes and has been mentioned by the New York Post, ABC News, The Daily Mail, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Bored Panda and BuzzFeed. 
 
 A fundraiser has also been set-up by Animal Ark Rescue in order to help seniors like Chester in their time of need. You can visit the online fundraiser on YouCaring by clicking here. 
 
 The fundraiser has so far raised more than $2,100. ? 
 
 Mobile users: To see a slideshow of Chester and Nicole's exploits, click here. 
 
 Copyright 2015 WTVM. All rights reserved. ||||| Nicole Elliot said she immediately knew she wanted to adopt Chester, a senior rescue dog who suffering from terminal cancer, and bring him on an exciting journey that would make the most of the time he has left on earth. 
 
 "Before I went and got him, I decided to do a bucket list," Elliot of Columbus, Georgia told ABC News. "They brought him out to me and I fell in love with him." 
 
 Elliot, who has a passion for rescuing animals, said she found Chester's photo while scrolling through the Facebook page of Animal Ark Rescue -- a shelter that was searching for potential owners to care for him during his dying days. 
 
 "They rescued him from a high kill shelter in April after he was surrendered over from his previous owners," she said. "He had a huge tumor on the top of his head and they wanted someone to take him for his final days. The next day, I got there right before they opened." 
 
 Courtesy Nicole Elliot 
 
 On June 27, Elliot, 24, took Chester home where she began planning little adventures for him to enjoy. 
 
 "I never compiled a list. I've just gotten some ideas of things I can take him to do," Elliot said. "He's playful at times, but I'm sure with the age and the cancer it slows him down. He is just very sweet and he soaks up any love that you give him. 
 
 "He deserves it," she added. "His past life didn’t seem too well." 
 
 Right away, Elliot began Chester's final journey with a visit to a water stream, a hot dog lunch from Nathan's restaurant and a doggy shopping spree. 
 
 "We bought new toys, a bed, bananas, and treats," she said. "I also want to take him on a boat ride, to the beach, and to have professional photographer take pictures of him. I want to have them [the photos] after he's gone." 
 
 Since they started, Elliot has been documenting Chester's experience on a Facebook page she created for him, as well as a donation site for Animal Ark Rescue. 
 
 She said she hopes it brings awareness to animals who have a lesser chance finding homes before they die. 
 
 Courtesy Nicole Elliot 
 
 "That was my main goal to inspire and encourage people to adopt shelter animals that people are less likely to adopt like older ones and the terminally ill," Elliot said. "There are so many people that say animals don’t have souls like humans, but I feel like anybody who met Chester would see he does have a soul. He has already fallen in love with me. He follows me everywhere. 
 
 "I think all animals should have a chance to have a happy life." 
 
 Elliot said veterinarians are unsure of how much time Chester has left. 
 
 She added that she plans continuing to adopt sick and elderly animals in hopes to bring happiness to their lives. ||||| Facebook Nicole Elliott is seen with her terminally ill shelter dog Chester after recently taking him in as a hospice foster mom. 
 
 Chester may have entered this world as a dog but he's going out as a prince. 
 
 The terminally ill pooch is spending his final days eating hot dogs and getting belly rubs after being rescued from a shelter by a foster mom who says she intends to give him one "awesome final ride." 
 
 Georgia mom Nicole Elliott says she was inspired to take on the mission after scrolling through a Columbus animal rescue group's website and seeing Chester's grizzled snout with a headline reading "hospice needed." 
 
 The ailing pooch's previous owners had abandoned him at a high-kill shelter earlier this year before rescued by non-profit Animal Ark Rescue, she said. 
 
 Facebook Chester is seen before and after he was rescued from a high-kill shelter in April. The poor pooch had been given up by his previous owners. 
 
 "He wasn't in the best shape. They bathed him and shaved away all of the matted, dirty hair. They found a very large tumor on his side, and had it removed. Since then they have shown up all over his body," she told WTVM. 
 
 At first she wasn't sure she could handle the emotional and potentially physical toll of taking in a dog of Chester’s condition. 
 
 But then, "I slept on it, and woke up knowing it was the right thing to do. I knew that it would be my responsibility to make his final days the best I could, to mine and his ability," she told the station. 
 
 Facebook The ailing dog's final days now include hot dogs, belly rubs and car rides. Facebook How much time Chester has left is uncertain but it's not believed to be long. Previous Next 
 
 Enlarge 
 
 When she arrived at the shelter that morning, she said: "I fell in love the moment I saw him." 
 
 Chester was shortly after introduced to the world on his very own Facebook page titled: "Chester's final journey." 
 
 "I am open to suggestions and ideas. Today I took him on a shopping spree, and gave him a soothing oatmeal milk bath. He really enjoyed the bath," Elliott posted on June 28. 
 
 Since then the page has gained more than 3,400 followers as well as a number of photos showing Chester playing with Elliott's daughter, eating ice cream, going for car rides while enjoying the wind in his face, and splashing about in creeks. 
 
 How much time Chester has left is uncertain but it's not believed to be long. 
 
 Elliott admits that it will be hard once they lose him but says right now it's not about her. 
 
 "His life is better here on out than it was," she told WTVM. 
 
 ON A MOBILE DEVICE? WATCH THE VIDEO HERE 
 
 ngolgowski@nydailynews.com
– Chester may be in his last days, but he's living the dream. Little is known about the terminally ill dog's life before April, when he was rescued from a high-kill shelter in Columbus, where his previous owners left him. "He wasn't in the best shape," says Nicole Elliott, who found Chester on nonprofit Animal Ark Rescue's Facebook page. "They bathed him and shaved away all of the matted, dirty hair. They found a very large tumor on his side, and had it removed. Since then they have shown up all over his body." But despite his health problems, Elliott is helping him get the most out of his last days. "I slept on it, and woke up knowing it was the right thing to do," she tells WTVM. Chester, likely 13 or 14, now has a Facebook page and is checking off a "bucket list" to ensure he has an "awesome final ride," Elliott tells the New York Daily News. So far, Chester has had a spa day with a milk and oatmeal bath and a shopping spree for new toys. There have also been plenty of treats, like "a famous Nathans hot dog" and a sundae. "I am taking it a day at a time and trying to give him normal doggy experiences that he may have never had the chance to do before, and a ton of spoiling," says Elliott. Next on the list: dinner at a restaurant, a day at the beach, a boat ride, and a birthday party with other rescued animals. "There is no estimate on time that I will be blessed with Chester," Elliott says. "He doesn't seem to be in much pain, but he is slow due to his age." She adds "he still has very perky moments and he loves to terrorize my kitties." Elliott hopes Chester encourages others to adopt from shelters with hospice programs, ABC News reports. Other animals "deserve a chance at a great final journey too!" she writes. (This dying dog took a "bucket list" trip to the Pacific.)