My wife and I attended the 2016 Zoo To Do at the Virginia Zoo, almost exactly 1 year after the passing of Stubbley the dog. We bid on and won the naming rights to "001". He was known as "001" because he and his brother were the first two animals born at the Zoo in 2016, so their local identification numbers are 000 and 001. After coming to see Stubbley at the Zoo, I learned about the Palm Oil Crisis that affects Malayan tigers in the wild. I decided to become a volunteer at the zoo, so that I could help visitors connect with Stubbley, and all the other animals.

My wife and I rescued Stubbley the dog from the Peninsula SPCA in 2003, shortly after we graduated college and moved in together. He was our first dog together. He had been abused, but we spent hours teaching him to love humans and to feel safe. We'd lay on the floor with him, holding a chew bone for hours, because he wouldn't chew on it if we weren't holding it. In 2009 he herniated a disc and was given a slim 20% chance of ever walking again. After surgery, and a long rehab stage, you'd never know he hurt his back. We had to say goodbye to him in 2015 after a brief battle with lymphoma. It was, without a doubt, the hardest decision of our lives.