The Story Behind This Site
My name is Diane Whitmore. I’ve been rescuing Collies for 18 years through Golden Years Collie Rescue here in Tampa, Florida. I thought I knew everything there was to know about this breed. Their health issues. Their quirks. Their needs.
I was wrong about the thing that mattered most.
March 12, 2019
Cooper came to me as a senior surrender. His family had to move into assisted living and couldn’t take him. At 10 years old, he still had that Collie spark - the intelligent eyes, the gentle soul, the need to herd everything including the other dogs.
He developed a skin condition. Nothing serious, the vet said. She prescribed Ivermectin, a common anti-parasitic medication. Standard treatment.
What neither of us knew: Cooper carried two copies of the MDR1 gene mutation. His body couldn’t process the drug. Instead of being expelled, it accumulated in his brain.
Within 12 hours, he was disoriented. Within 24 hours, he couldn’t stand. Within 48 hours, I was holding him as he died.
The Guilt That Never Fully Leaves
For months, I blamed myself. How could I have run a Collie rescue for almost two decades and not known about this? How many dogs had I placed in homes without warning their new families?
I started researching obsessively. I joined online groups. I found other families with the same story - the same guilt, the same grief, the same anger.
And I found something else: most of them had never heard of MDR1 either. Neither had their vets.
Why This Community Exists
This site isn’t about pointing fingers at veterinarians. Most of them genuinely don’t know. MDR1 drug sensitivity isn’t adequately covered in veterinary school curriculum. It’s not on their radar until they’ve lost a patient to it.
This site is about:
- Sharing our stories - Every family that tells their story might prevent another tragedy
- Providing practical tools - Checklists, questions, resources that could save lives
- Building community - Because grief is easier when you’re not alone
- Pushing for change - Advocating for better MDR1 education in veterinary programs
The Dogs We Remember
Every story on this site represents a dog who was loved. A dog who trusted their humans. A dog who deserved better than what our medical system gave them.
Cooper. Bailey. Max. Luna. Finn. Scout. Dozens more. Hundreds more across all the families I’ve connected with.
We tell their stories because their deaths shouldn’t be meaningless. We tell their stories because somewhere, right now, a dog just like them is about to be given a drug that could kill them.
Join Us
If you’ve lost a dog to a drug reaction, your story matters. If you want to prevent others from experiencing what we’ve experienced, we need your voice.
This isn’t a formal organization. There’s no membership fee. It’s just a community of people who loved their dogs and learned something devastating the hardest possible way.
We’re here because we have to be. We share because we have to. We advocate because our dogs can’t.
There Is Hope
For every heartbreaking story, there's a dog who was saved because their owner knew about MDR1. There are vets who now test every herding breed before prescribing. There are families who got the test done and now know exactly which medications to avoid.
Knowledge is the difference between tragedy and a long, healthy life. That's why we're here.
Diane Whitmore Founder, Golden Years Collie Rescue Tampa, Florida In memory of Cooper (2009-2019)